MEDIA INFORMATION
The Vanderbilt Athletic Communications office welcomes your interest
in the Vanderbilt women’s basketball program. We will make every
effort to meet your needs throughout the season. Following is information and guidelines to help you during the season and allow our
coaches and players to adhere to their schedules.

Athletic Communications Staff

Credentials
The Vanderbilt Athletic Communications office issues season media credentials to authorized full-time or specified representatives of media outlets
who cover Vanderbilt basketball on a regular basis. Single-game credentials
also will be available for media who cover the team less frequently, should
space allow. Please e-mail or fax credential requests on company letterhead
to the attention of women’s basketball contact, Michael Scholl.

Michael Scholl

Assistant Director/
Women's Basketball SID

Ryan Schulz

Assistant Director

Credential Pick-Up
Credentials are available for pick-up at “Media Will Call” located near the
playing floor at Memorial Gymnasium. Those media wishing to access “Media
Will Call” should enter the service tunnel located at the end of Lot 71 behind
the outfield wall of Vanderbilt’s Hawkins Field baseball stadium. Proceed
through the tunnel until you arrive at the “Media Will Call” table. If enough
advance notice is given, credentials can be mailed or sent via next-day carrier
at the expense of the media organization making the request.
Media Parking
Media parking is located inside the 25th Avenue parking garage located
at the corner of 25th Avenue and Jess Neely Drive. After parking, please enter
Memorial Gymnasium through the service tunnel entrance located at the end
of Lot 71 behind the outfield wall of Vanderbilt’s Hawkins Field baseball stadium. Vehicles parked in Lot 71 without the proper parking pass will be towed.

General Communications Possibilities
Media sitting in any location inside Memorial Gymnasium have access to
the Internet via wireless connection. If you do not have capabilities for such
access, please contact Michael Scholl days prior to your arrival at Memorial
Gymnasium. A select number of data lines are available.
A limited number of phones are available for local and calling card calls.
Please contact a member of the media relations staff if you need your own
phone. A fax machine is also available on press row.
Postgame Interview Format
The Vanderbilt locker room is closed to media following the game. After
a 10-minute cooling off period, Coach Balcomb will hold a press conference
in the postgame media interview room located near the pregame meal room
in the southwest corner of Memorial Gym. After Coach Balcomb, the opposing head coach will be brought to the interview room, followed by requested
Vanderbilt players. Please make your player requests to the Vanderbilt Media
Relations Office.

2

Assistant Director

Andy Boggs

Kyle Parkinson

Larry Leathers

Chris Weinman

Rod Williamson

Assistant Director

Media Workroom
Memorial Gymnasium’s media workroom is located in the northeast corner
of the facility, nearest the opponents’ bench. This room will serve as a place
for pregame meals as well as an area for the media to work after the game.
The room is equipped with both telephone and data ports.

Director of
Online Services

Communications
Intern

Ashley Crosby

Media Seating
Media covering Vanderbilt basketball games are seated at various locations inside Memorial Gymnasium. 1.) A select number of seats are available
on the floor, usually reserved for Nashville beatwriters and radio crews from
both schools. 2.) An additional 20 seats are available inside Suite 5 located on
the northside concourse, reserved for media following the visiting team and
Nashville radio and television media. 3.) More than 40 seats are available in
the third-level pressbox for additional media seating needs.

MEDIA INFORMATION
Road Interview Policy
Vanderbilt’s locker room will be closed to the media at road venues.
Following a cooling off period, Coach Balcomb and selected Commodore
players will be available outside of the Vanderbilt locker room or in a formal
postgame press conference at the discretion of the home SID.
Visiting Radio
ISDN and telephone lines are provided for visiting broadcasts. A limited
number of telephone lines are available at the various media seating locations throughout the gymnasium.

General Media Policies
Interviewing the Commodores
Please coordinate all requests for player and coach interviews through
Vanderbilt women’s basketball athletic communications director Michael
Scholl at least 24 hours in advance. Media should not contact a player or
coach directly.

Guidelines for Granting Media Credentials to Online
Media Representatives
The following is a set of guidelines that the Vanderbilt University Athletic
Communications Office will use as a basis for issuing media credentials to
independent online media representatives (bloggers). Overall, Vanderbilt
University strives to work with individuals who adhere to professional standards, demonstrate transparency in their operations, and regularly produce
quality content. While what follows shall serve as a guideline, they may be
altered for certain events when necessary and are subject to regulations set
forth by the Southeastern Conference and/or the NCAA.
• Individuals associated with a web-only media outlet may apply for credentials on a game-by-game basis unless otherwise specified. Requests for
credentials must be sent via e-mail, fax or in writing to the requested Athletic
Communications Director and be received at least three (3) business days
prior to the event. Request should include applicant’s legal name, company or
blog they are representing, a mailing address and website address.

Practice Coverage
Vanderbilt players and coaches are available for interviews prior to practices on designated days. Practice schedules are sent via e-mail to media
multiple times each week during the season to help facilitate coverage.
Contact Michael Scholl if you wish to receive these updates. Player interviews typically begin 45 minutes before practice at Memorial Gymnasium.
Interviews with Coach Balcomb follow. Media are typically allowed to attend
practices. Gameday walk-throughs are closed to the media at both Memorial
Gymnasium and all road venues.

• The Athletic Communications Office requires that a requesting outlet possess its own domain name (.com, .net, etc.) and will not accept requests from
sites based on free services (blogspot, wordpress, etc.).

www.VUCommodores.com
The official web site of Vanderbilt Student Athletics has all of your information needs. Pregame notes, including updated statistics, can be easily
downloaded in PDF format. Following each contest is a game summary, boxscore, and postgame notes and quotes.

• In the interest of protecting the Vanderbilt University fan base, we require
that all applicants that give users ability to submit comments and/or place
cookies on user’s computers supply a privacy policy that describes in full
how the data collected through such activities is used or disseminated.

Vanderbilt Games on the Radio and Internet
Vanderbilt basketball can be heard live on WNSR-AM 560. Selected
games will also be carried on networks of affiliate stations across the midstate area.
Charlie Mattos returns for his 17th year as the voice of the Commodores.
All games will be streamed and archived on the internet at the Commodores’
official web site, vucommodores.com.
You can also keep up with the Commodores on the internet through
Gametracker live stats. Just check the women’s basketball schedule page
for the “live stats” link for a running box score throughout the game.
Photography
All photographers are restricted to the designated areas along the baseline opposite the home and visitor benches and must sign an affidavit agreeing to the SEC’s new policy concerning photography. Strobe lights may not
be installed in Memorial Gymnasium without permission from the Vanderbilt
Athletic Communications office. When using photo images provided by
the Vanderbilt Athletic Communications office, please credit: Vanderbilt
Photography.

• First time applicants must submit traffic/subscriber data from an independent source in order to be considered. Sites with fewer than 25,000 legitimate
unique visitors per month are not eligible for football or men’s basketball
credentialing. Sites with fewer than 7,500 legitimate unique visitors per month
are not eligible for women’s basketball credentialing.

• Athletic Communications seeks to perpetuate the program and sport being
credentialed and therefore prefers to work with online media outlets with an
established track record covering our school, our conference or the requested sport. In the request, please provide a short summary of previous relevant
experience, if any.
• As a general guideline, we would like to work with outlets that have been
in continuous operation for at least 3-6 months. Additionally, an average of
3-5 substantive postings per week is expected in season from applicant web
sites.
• Obtaining media credentials is an opportunity to interview players and
team officials for legitimate media purposes only. Bloggers who are granted
access to the press box and other areas inside the venue are expected to act
professionally and adhere to all SEC and NCAA-mandated media guidelines
at all times.
• The standard of professionalism also extends to content posted on the
requesting website, whether posted by the requester, user or other agent.
Profanity, racial or sexual comments will not be tolerated from credentialed
outlets.
• No credentials will be issued to individuals under the age of 18.
• Vanderbilt University reserves the right of its personnel to deny or revoke
credentials without notice and an individual shall surrender their credential
upon request for violating the policies and/or safety procedures of security
personnel, Vanderbilt University, the Southeastern Conference, or the NCAA.

Season Outlook
Season Preview
While the challenges have
differed from season-toseason during Melanie Balcomb’s tenure as head coach
at Vanderbilt, the results have
been the same – nine seasons, nine NCAA Tournament
appearances. As Balcomb
enters season number 10, she
faces a new challenge, but
looks to capture that same
result.
The 2011-12 Commodores
return a unique blend of youth
and experience. The roster
shows just one senior, but
Vanderbilt boasts four players (juniors Tiffany Clarke
and Elan Brown, sophomores
Jasmine Lister and Stephanie
Holzer) who earned SEC AllFreshman honors during their
respective rookie campaigns,
as well as last season’s SEC
Sixth Woman of the Year
(Holzer).
The Schedule
Building a team comprised
mostly of juniors and sophomores, Balcomb knows she
must prepare early for the
battles of the SEC that will
come when the calendar
flips to 2012. To that end, the
non-conference schedule is
highlighted by visits from
Oklahoma and Florida State,
while the Commodores will
travel to NC State.
“You don’t want to go into
the SEC not having played

6

any BCS conference teams on
the road, or at home for that
matter,” said Balcomb on her
scheduling philosophy. “You
don’t want to play a conference team without having
played that type of size and
athleticism.”
In addition to the three BCS
conference opponents, the
Commodores will travel to
Austin Peay and UT-Martin
before embarking on Southeastern Conference play.
The SEC schedule is one
of the toughest Vanderbilt
has faced during Balcomb’s
time in Nashville, featuring
repeat opponents in perennial
league powers Tennessee,
LSU and Georgia, as well as
two match-ups with South
Carolina.
“We’ve never had LSU,
Georgia and Tennesse, who’ve
consistently been along
with us in the top-four in the
league,” said Balcomb. “To
have LSU, Georgia, Tennesse
and South Carolina twice is
by far the toughest schedule
we’ve had in-conference.”
The Commodores also hope
to benefit from the fact they
can remain in Nashville during the postseason through
the first two rounds of the
NCAA Tournament. The 2012
SEC Tournament will again
be held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, while Vanderbilt
will host the first and second
rounds of the NCAA Division I
Women’s Basketball Championship at Memorial Gym.

Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball 2011-12

The Backcourt
Guard play will again be a
strength of Balcomb’s team,
as they will often play with
three guards, led by sophomore Jasmine Lister. Lister led
the team in scoring with 11.8
points per game, while adding
103 assists and serving as the
team’s top three-point threat
with a 36.7 percentage.
“Jasmine played a lot of
point as a freshman,” said
Balcomb.. “She’s playing this
year with another level of
confidence. She looks like a
veteran and she’ll play point
as well as two-guard.”
Lister’s ability to slide to the
two is keyed by the addition
of freshmen guards Maggie
Morrison and Kady Schrann.
“What’s going to be different is that all three (Lister,
Morrison and Schrann) of
them can play one or two,”
Balcomb said. “It’s new for us,
in that we’ll have one sophomore and two freshmen playing a lot in the backcourt.”
The Commodores also will
get contributions at shooting guard from junior Gabby
Smith and sophomore Christina Foggie.
“Christina and Gabby really
give us that veteran shooting presence to pair with our
other young guards,” Balcomb said.
The versatile Foggie averaged 9.9 points per game,
but only saw action in 21

Season Outlook
contests after battling a pair of
concussions.
“Christina had 27 points in
her first game, but then was in
and out of the lineup,” Balcomb explained. “She’s really
become stronger and she
was already one of our best
athletes.”
Smith returns as one of the
team’s leading three-point
shooters after posting a 33.9
percentage from beyond the
arc last season. She will see
action at guard, as well as
some time at small forward.
“Gabby came as a shooter,
but (in practice) she actually
volunteered to play some
small forward and it went
really well,” Balcomb said.
In addition, junior Elan
Brown play guard and small
forward. Brown appeared in
all but one game last season, averaging 3.9 points per
game.
“Elan started playing
some three and four, but has
played almost all small forward in preseason,” Balcomb
explained. “She’ll give us a
little more post play, while
Gabby will give us more
guard play.”
The final component of the
backcourt is freshman Nadine
Ndip. Ndip, a walk-on, brings
some extra athleticism and
work ethic to practice.
“I love her. She plays
defense, she’s scrappy and is
a great teammate,” Balcomb
said.

The Frontcourt
The Commodores return
two key members of their
front line in junior Tiffany
Clarke and redshirt sophomore Stephanie Holzer.
Clarke’s development
became evident at the end of
the 2010-11 season, as she
led the team in rebounds in
three of the final four regular
season contests, before leading the squad in points and
rebounds in both SEC Tournament games and earning a
spot on the All-Tournament
Team.
“Tiffany Clarke had a really
solid last five or six games
and played at a very high
level,” said Balcmob. “We’re
expecting really big things
from Tiffany this year if she
continues developing that
consistency.”
Holzer was named SEC
Sixth Woman of the Year
last season. She averaged
12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds
per game during SEC play,
appearing in all 16 games off
the bench.
“Steph can face-up better
than anyone we have in the
post and she can play with
her back to the basket better
than anyone we have in the
post,” Balcomb said. “She’s
very efficient with her minutes
and we’re hoping to get more
minutes out of her. She’s in
much better shape, stronger
and healthier than she was a
year ago.”

Balcomb feels Holzer’s
development could be the
most important factor for the
team this season, while pointing out that the ceiling is quite
high for the sophomore.
“If she can keep herself on
the floor, she could be one
of the best post players to
ever play here, hands down,”
Balcomb said. “The more we
can keep Steph Holzer on the
floor, the better. She changed
the game, which is why she
got sixth woman. We didn’t
need her at the start of games,
we needed her to finish
games.”
Another wildcard is redshirt freshman Clair Watkins.
Watkins suffered a knee injury
during preseason and missed
all of last season, but once
she develops, she will be able
to contribute.
“Clair has to adjust to the
physicality of college ball and
when she does that, she’ll
help us right away,” said Balcomb. “She’s very skilled. She
can shoot, face-up and play
with her back to the basket.
She suits us very well.”
The expectations have
risen to the point at Vanderbilt where each season, the
goal is to compete for an SEC
championship and make a run
in the NCAA Tournament. This
season is no different and the
mix of youth and experience
should help to meet that standard as Vanderbilt looks for its
13th consecutive NCAA bid.

Fact Book

7

Player Information
Career Highs

Jordan Coleman

12

Senior Forward
6’ 1”
Orlando, Fla.
Lake Mary HS

2010-11 (Junior) Started first seven SEC games ... Made first start
of season at Ole Miss, playing a season-best 24 minutes, contributing five
points and five rebounds ... Led the team with six rebounds against Southern Illinois ... Played 21 minutes at Denver ... Played 17 minutes, collecting
seven rebounds at Bowling Green ... Scored four points in 15 minutes against
Quinnipiac.
2009-10 (Sophomore) Suffered an injury to her left knee in the closing
minutes of win at Wright State which kept her out for the remainder of the
2009-10 season... Averaged 7.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in seven games ...
Eight points, seven rebounds and three steals against the Raiders... Has
played more than 20 minutes in past six games... Scored career-high 17 points
in victory over Austin Peay... First double-figures scoring output of her career
included perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe... Pulled 10 rebounds for the
first time in her career at Saint Joseph’s... Also scored six point and had three
steals against the Hawks... On the floor for a career-high 26 minutes in Philadelphia... Four points, four assists and eight rebounds against UC Riverside...
Five points, six rebounds and three steals at Southern Illinois... Made first
career start against Lehigh, scoring personal-best eight points in 14 minutes.

2008-09 (Freshman) Saw action in 19 games as a freshman, expanding her role as the season went on... Saw first action of her collegiate career
against Davidson after nursing a leg injury during Vanderbilt’s first five
games... Scored three points in VU debut, making only field-goal attempt...
Also hit only shot in second game against Virginia Tech... Scored four points
against Radford... Made 2-of-3 field goals, including first miss of the year...
Notched four points and two rebounds in four minutes vs. Alabama... Played
10 strong minutes in the SEC semifinals which included four rebounds, a
layup, and great screen that freed Christina Wirth for a three in the corner...
Season-high 14 minutes in first round NCAA win over Western Carolina
included four points and personal-best six rebounds... Also saw action in
second round win over Kansas State and versus Maryland in the Sweet 16.
HIGH SCHOOL (Lake Mary) A four-year starter for Coach Carl Brown’s
Rams... Led the team in scoring for three of her four seasons, averaging 13.6
points per game over her career... Helped lead Lake Mary to a 6A State Championship in 2006, and was named Most Valuable Player of that tournament...
Paced the Rams in rebounding for all four of her varsity seasons... Set school
records for rebounds in a game (24) and in a season (341)... Three-time firstteam All-Florida selection in basketball, also was so lauded in track & field
following her sophomore and senior seasons.... Placed second in the state
triple jump as a sophomore before returning her senior season to claim the
title... Won seven Florida AAU championships as part of the Orlando Comets
Red... Youngest member of the squad’s 2006 AAU National Championship

2010-11 (Sophomore) Played her best basketball at the end of the
season ... Averaged 3.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and finished second on the team
with 29 steals, while averaging 15.7 minutes ... Made third start of season in
NCAA Tournament game against Louisville ... Scored 10 points and had four
rebounds in SEC semfinals against Kentucky ... Eight first-half points in SEC
Tournament quarterfinals against Mississippi State ... Scored 12 points and
collected eight rebounds in 22 minutes at South Carolina ... Notched second
double-double of career and season against Ole Miss on Jan. 30, collecting
11 points and 11 rebounds ... Tied career high with 32 minutes played and also
tied career marks in assists and blocks against Ole Miss ... Played seasonhigh 31 minutes against Arkansas ... Scored six points and grabbed five
rebounds in 28 minutes at Duquesne ... Made 5-of-8 field goals to finish with
11 points against UT Martin ... Posted first double-double of career against
Quinnipiac, setting a career high in points (18) and tying a career high in
rebounds (10).

PERSONAL Elan Laurent Brown... Born July 11, 1991 in Atlanta, Ga....
Daughter of Lori Metoyer and Geoffrey Brown... Has one older sister, Vienne...
Earned the Silver Eagle Award for maintaining a GPA of better than 3.2 from
ninth through 12 grade.

2009-10 (Freshman) SEC All-Freshmen team ... Averaged 4.8 points and
3.3 rebounds ... Started 10 games ... Volunteered to play forward after injuries
thinned VU’s front line ... Paired a team-high 10 rebounds with eight points
at Ole Miss... Career-high 16 points in SEC win at Arkansas included 4-of-6
from long range... Eight points and seven rebounds in starting role against
Alabama... Four points and career-high two blocks against Mississippi State...
Seven points and six rebounds in win at Auburn... Ten points including 4-of-9
shooting from the field at No. 4 Tennessee... Scored 11 points in win over No.
6 Georgia on 5-of-7 shooting... Her first game in double-figures also included
three steals... Career high’s at Kentucky included eight rebounds and four
steals and 27 minutes played... Seven points and four rebounds in SEC opener
vs. Ole Miss... Made her first career start against Western Kentucky, playing
a personal-high 25 minutes, scoring four points and pulling five rebounds...
Started the second half against Bowling Green but was limited to 13 total minutes due to four fouls... Seven points and four rebounds against Austin Peay...
Eight points and four steals against UC Riverside... Three steals and five
points in her road game debut including 3-of-4 free throws... Scored seven
points in her collegiate debut and played 24 minutes before fouling out.
HIGH SCHOOL (Woodward) Four-year starter for Coach Jonathan
Merrill’s War Eagles... Helped lead team to regional championships in 2006
and 2009... Named All-Region in 2008... Joined the school’s 1,000-point club in
2009... Named Most Improved Player in 2006... Best Offensive Player in 2007
and 2008... Most Valuable Player in 2009... Also lettered in track and field...
Played her club ball for Coach Charles Huddleston’s Georgia Metros, where
she was a teammate of Tiffany Clarke... Metros were Nike Nationals Silver
Division champions in 2008.

2010-11 (Sophomore) Named to SEC All-Tournament Team ... Played
best basketball down the stretch ... Four games of 20-plus points ... Six
double-doubles ... Averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 56.0%
from the floor ... Second on the team with 26 blocks ... Had 18 points and
career-best 17 rebounds in SEC semifinals against Kentucky ... 17 rebounds
tied for 16th most in school history and most since Carla Thomas had 16 in
2005 ... Scored all 23 of her points in second half against Mississippi State in
SEC quarterfinals ... Scored 14 of team’s final 15 points, including 10 in a row
at one point ... Third straight double-double against Florida, scoring 13 points
and tying career high with 14 rebounds ... Posted 22 points and 10 rebounds
against Kentucky for first back-to-back 20-point game and double-double ...
First player since Jenni Benningfield in 2003 to score 20-plus points and grab
10-plus rebounds in consecutive games ... Scored 22 points and grabbed
career-high 14 rebounds for third double-double of season at Mississippi
State ... Second double-double of season at Florida, finishing with 23 points
and a career-high 13 rebounds in a career-best 32 minutes ... Earned sixth
start of the season against Ole Miss on Jan. 30, totalling 10 points and seven
rebounds ... Scored 10 points in eight minutes against Delaware ... Tied career
high with six free throws against Delaware ... Played only six minutes against
Southern Illinois due to illness ... Hampered by foul trouble at Bowling Green,
scoring seven points and collecting six rebounds in 21 minutes ... Named to
Thanksgiving All-Tournament Team ... Scored 12 points and had six rebounds
against Princeton ... Posted second double-double of career against Quinnipiac, finishing with 16 points and tying a carer high with 11 rebounds ...
Scored nine points in 17 minutes at Florida State after making 4-of-6 shots.
2009-10 (Freshman) SEC All-Freshmen Team ... Averaged 7.5 points
and 5.3 rebounds per game ... Pulled 10 rebounds in SEC Quarterfinal win
over LSU, missing her second double-double by just four points... Ten points
and five rebounds against South Carolina... Twelve points in win at Arkansas included 6-of-7 from the free-throw line... Team-high 14 points with
eight rebounds in win over No. 6 Georgia... Team-high 18 points in first-ever
SEC game, Jan. 3 vs. Ole Miss... Eleven points and nine rebounds at No. 3
Notre Dame -- her fourth consecutive game with at least nine rebounds...
Also blocked three shots for the second straight game... Career-high 27
points against ETSU... First career double-double vs. the Lady Bucs with 11
rebounds... Also blocked three shots against ETSU... Made first start of her
Commodore career against Tennessee State... Held to only 18 minutes due to
foul trouble, but did score six points and pull down team-high nine rebounds...
Back-to-back double-figures games after scoring 14 points at Quinnipiac...
One shy of a double-double against the Bobcats with nine rebounds... Also
registered a pair of blocks for the third time this season... Second game in
double-figures came in win over Western Kentucky, featuring 12 points and

Points: _______________ 27_________________________ETSU (12/28/09)
FG Made: ____________ 10_________________________ETSU (12/28/09)
FG Atts: ______________ 13 (4x)______________ last vs. Kentucky (3/5/11)
3FG Made: ___________ 0______________________________________ N/A
3FG Atts: _____________ 0______________________________________ N/A
FT Made: _____________ 8_______________________ Kentucky (2/20/11)
FT Atts: ______________ 12______________________ Kentucky (2/20/11)
Rebounds: ____________ 17_____________________vs. Kentucky (3/5/11)
Assists: ______________ 3 (2x)___________ last at Florida State (11/21/10)
Blocks: ______________ 4______________________vs. Kentucky (3/5/11)
Steals: _______________ 2 (5x)_________________ last Kentucky (2/20/11)
Minutes: _____________ 33______________ at Mississippi State (2/17/11)
six rebounds... Six points and team-high eight rebounds at Wright State...
Six points and two blocks against N.C. State... Five points against Austin
Peay despite fouling out after 15 minutes... Two points and four rebounds in
11 minutes at Saint Joseph’s... Six points versus UC Riverside... Nine points
and six boards in first road game at Southern Illinois... Led all scorers with 14
points in her collegiate debut against Lehigh... Connected on 7-of-10 shots in
her first game as a Commodore.
HIGH SCHOOL (Norcross) Four-year starter for Coach Angie Hembree’s
Blue Devils... Averaged 18 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks per game...
Set school record for most blocks in a single game and season... Four-time
All-Region and three-time All-County honoree... Scored over 1,000 career
points... McDonald’s All-America nominee... Also lettered in volleyball and
track and field... All-State selection and Team MVP in volleyball... 5A State
champion in triple jump in 2008... Played her club ball for Coach Charles
Huddleston’s Georgia Metros, where she was a teammate of Elan Brown...
Metros were Nike Nationals Silver Division champions in 2008.
ACADEMICS Enrolled in the college of arts and science ... Majoring in
interdisciplnary studies and human and organizational development.
PERSONAL Tiffany W. Clarke... Born February 5, 1991, in Queens, N.Y....
Daughter of Andrea and Richard Clarke... Has three siblings... Has one older
brother, Timothy, and two younger siblings, Lesedi and Jaiden... Eleven-time
scholar-athlete... Gwinnett County Scholar Athletic Team of the Year... Plans
to major in Interdisciplanary Studies... Both mother and father are Jamaican.

2010-11 (Sophomore) Averaged 4.0 points and 1.45 assists in 16.7
minutes per game ... Shot 33.9% from three-point range ... Played one of best
games of season in NCAA Tournament, scoring 11 points, including eight
straight at one point against Louisville ... Reached double figures for second
straight game, scoring 10 points at Duquesne ... Also set career high in free
thre attempts and makes against the Dukes ... Scored career high 18 points
on 7-of-15 shooting against UT Martin ... Started against SIU and tied career
high in rebounds (5), assists (3) and season high in points (8) ... Also set
career high with four free throw attempts and makes ... Made first start of
season at Denver ... Collected season-high four rebounds and three assists
at Bowling Green ... Made 2-of-3 three-point attempts against Princeton ...
Scored six points in 13 minutes against Quinnipiac ... Scored eight points in 31
minutes against Samford.

2009-10 (Freshman) SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll ... Averaged
3.0 points and 1.2 rebounds per game ... Started final five games of season
and averaged 13.2 minutes per game ... Earned first starts of Vanderbilt
career in the SEC Tournament, playing 86 minutes in the three contests...
Played personal-best 36 minutes against Arkansas, dishing three assists and
recording her first block... Connected on both three-point attempts against
Florida... Nine points in career-high 24 minutes at No. 4 Tennessee... Scored
a career-high 12 points in win over No. 6 Georgia... Hit 5-of-9 from the floor
while playing a career-high minutes for the second consecutive game... First
double-figures scoring day came in win over Austin Peay (11 points)... Two
steals at Saint Joseph’s... Five points against UC Riverside... Nine points in
first road game at SIU included 2-of-2 from behind the arc... Hit 4-of-5 shots in
collegiate debut to score nine points against Lehigh.
HIGH SCHOOL (Mount Notre Dame) Three-year starter for Coach
Dante Harlan’s Cougars... Won four Ohio Division I state championships...
Three-time All-State Tournament selection... All-GGCL (Girls Greater Cincinnati League) as a junior and senior... Also a Cincinnati Enquirer All-Star both
years... Honorable-mention All-American by Sporting News Magazine...
Mount Notre Dame was ranked No. 10 in the nation by ESPN in 2008 and No.
11 in 2009... Named to OGBR (Ohio Girls Basketball Report) Freshman Team,
Sophomore Team, Junior Team and Senior Team... Honored as “Camp Beast”
during 2006 OGBR Skills Camp... Played club ball for Cincinnati Heat Premiere
under Coach Jerry Allen.
ACADEMICS Working on a degree in cognative studies from the Peabody
College ... Minoring in sociology.
PERSONAL Gabrielle Madalynn Smith... Born June 18, 1991, in Cincinnati,
Ohio... Daughter of Julie and James Smith... Has five siblings... Older brothers,
Zachary and Shane, and older sister, Julianne... Has two younger brothers,

2010-11 (Freshman) Finished season averaging 9.9 points in 23.8
minutes per game ... Shot 35.0% from beyond the arc ... Averaged 2.0 assists
per game ... Missed 11 games this season due to injuries ... Started first
game since SEC opener and scored 23 points to lead team at home against
Kentucky ... Made return to floor on Feb. 17 at Mississippi State after missing previous five games due to a concussion ... Scored 11 points in return
... Missed five games after suffering a concussion on Jan. 25 at practice ...
Scored 15 second half points at Kentucky ... Had streak of 24 straight free
throws made end on her fourth attempt at Kentucky ... Scored 10 of her 13
points in the second half at Tennessee ... Returned to the court at Alabama
after missing two games due to post concussion syndrome ... Missed Mississippi State and Auburn games on Jan. 6 and 9 due to post concussion
syndrome ... Made 11-of-11 free throw attempts against Western Kentucky,
which ranks as the ninth-best shooting performance in school history from
the line ... Returned to the floor at Duquesne after missing three games due
to a concussion ... Scored 17 points on career-high five three pointers in
return ... Also had career-high six rebounds at Duquesne ... Had to be carted
off court on stretcher at Bowling Green after suffering a concussion from a
screen ... Spent night at hospital in Bowling Green for precautionary reasons
... Collected five rebounds, while making 4-of-6 free throws against Quinnipiac ... Scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from three-point
range at Florida State ... Started the first game of her career, scoring 14 points
and dishing out 8 assists against Howard ... Missed second game of season
due to a strained tendon in her left calf ... The top rated recruit in the signing
class, Foggie is one of the team’s most athletic players.
HIGH SCHOOL (Lenape Regional) Averaged 26.4 points, 5.2 assists
and 6.1 rebounds as a senior ... Four-year letterwinner and starter ... Twoyear team captain ... Two-time All-State selection ... Four-time team MVP ...
Four-time first team All-Olympic-American Conference ... Four-time first team
All-South Jersey ... 2010 Al Carino South Jersey Co-Player of the Year ... 2010
Burlington County Player of the Year ... Team posted 23-4 record as a senior,
which is best record in school history ... 2007 Olympic American Conference
Champions ... Coached by Lynn Brennan ... Played AAU basketball for Fort
Washington, Pa.’s Fencor and was coached by Steve Chapman ... Ranked
No. 58 on ESPNU Hoopgurlz 100 ... McDonald’s All-American nominee ...
New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year Finalist ... School’s all-time leading
scorer (male or female) with 2,137 points ... Burlington County’s all-time
leading female three-point scorer with 242 threes ...Scored 1000th point as a
sophomore.

PERSONAL Daughter of Nicola and James Foggie ... Has one older
brother -- James, 22 ... Father is a systems manager for Verizon ... Mother
is director of compliance for NJCUL ... Began playing basketball at age 5 ...
Chose Vanderbilt over Villanova, St. Josephs, Maryland, James Madison and
Delaware ... Favorite’s include Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey and Mean Girls.

ACADEMICS Enrolled in the Peabody College and working toward a
degree in human and organizational development.

2010-11 (R-Freshman) Honorable Mention All-SEC by Associated
Press ... SEC All-Freshman Team by league’s head coaches ... SEC Sixth
Woman of the Year ... Averaged 11.1 points, tied for team lead in rebounding
(6.0), led team in blocked shots with 40 (1.4) while averaging 18.8 minutes
per game ... Shot 56.8% from the floor ... Named SEC Player of the Week on
Feb. 7 ... First freshman to win the award since 2005 ... Scored 23 points in
win at Florida ... Scored 23 of Vanderbilt’s 55 points against LSU in 29 minutes
off the bench ... Third career 20-point game and first since second game of
the season ... Scored 19 points and made 7-of-9 field goal attempts at South
Carolina ... Posted 13 points and 6 rebounds in 16 minutes at Kentucky ... Foul
trouble at Kentucky swung the momentum of the game ... Scored 16 points
and tied a career high with four blocks against Arkansas ... Notched fourth
double-double of season and second in three games at Alabama, finishing
with 17 points and 10 rebounds ... Had third double-double of season against
Mississippi State, scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds
... Notched second career double-double at Virginia Tech, scoring 11 points
and grabbing 12 rebounds ... Also tied career high with four blocks against
Hokies ... Scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting against Delaware ... Returned
to the court at Duquesne after missing previous three games due to back
spasms ... Missed fourth game of season and third in a row against UT Martin
due to a back injury ... Scored all 10 of points in first half at Bowling Green ...
Minutes against BGSU limited due to foul trouble ... Sealed Princeton win with
two free throws with eight seconds left ... Missed game against Quinnipiac
due to back spasms ... SEC Freshman of the Week Nov. 15 ... Scored 20 points
and grabbed 11 rebounds in her debut against Howard in just 19 minutes off
the bench ... Scored 26 points to go with 9 rebounds in second game against
Samford ... Most points by a freshman since Tiffany Clarke scored 27 against
ETSU on Dec. 28, 2009 ... Held to six points at Florida State, but still had four
blocks and four steals ... A former McDonald’s All-American, Holzer looks
to make her debut for the Commodores after missing all of last season due
to an ankle injury.2009-10 (Freshman) Redshirted her first season on
campus due to injury ... Selected to SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll.

PERSONAL Stephanie Elizabeth Holzer... Born Dec. 17, 1990 in Mount
Kisco, N.Y..... Daughter of Kristen and Eric Holzer... Has two siblings -- Katie
(21) and Matthew (12)... Plans to major in Human & Organizational Development... Sister Katie played basketball for the University of Richmond.

HIGH SCHOOL (Cardinal O’Hara) Three-year starter for Coach Linus
McGinty’s Lions... Averaged 19.5 points, 15.5 rebounds and 3.2 blocks as a
senior... Three-time Street & Smith’s All-American... Gatorade Pennsylvania
Player of the Year... Parade All American, All-USA Today, McDonalds All
American, WBCA All American... 1,300 career points, 1,000 career rebounds...
Nike Tournament of Champions MVP... Delco Player of the Year... First-team
All-State... Philadelpha City MVP... 2009 Philadelphia City Champions... 2009
Class 4A State Runner-ups... Philadelphia Catholic League Champions in 2006
and 2008... Played her club ball for Coach Kevin Lynch’s Philadelphia Belles.
ACADEMICS Working toward a degree in human and organizational
development in the Peabody College.

2010-11 (Freshman) SEC All-Freshman Team by the league’s head
coaches ... One of two players to start every game for Commodores ... Led the
team in scoring average (11.8) and minutes played ... Scored team-best 13
points in NCAA Tournament loss to Louisville ... Jump-started team’s 17-0 second half run at Mississippi State and scored eight straight at one point during
the run, finishing with 16 points in comeback win ... Held scoreless for first
time in career at Kentucky ... Made a career-high five three-pointers to finish
with a team-best 17 points against Arkansas ... Led Vanderbilt with 17 points
at Tennessee ... Scored 15 points and made team-high three three-pointers at
Ole Miss ... Had streak of 11 straight games to score in double figures come to
an end against Delaware ... Dropped in a career-high 21 points at Duquesne
... Scored 13 points and had five assists against UT Martin despite coldest
shooting night of young career ... Notched 14 points for third straight game
against Southern Illinois ... Also tied season high with two steals against SIU
... Scored 14 points and matched career high with four three-pointers at Denver ... Made a career-high four three-pointers in loss at Bowling Green and
finished with team-high 14 points ... Named to Thanksgiving All-Tournament
Team after playing more minutes than any other Commodore and averaging
13.5 points ... Scored 15 points and made three three-pointers against Princeton ... Posted 12 points and six assists against Quinnipiac ... Scored 17 points
on 6-of-12 shooting at Florida State ... Started the first game of her career,
scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds against Howard.
HIGH SCHOOL (Santiago) Averaged 20 points, five assists and four
steals as a senior ... Four-year letterwinner and starter ... Two-year team
captain ... Three-time team MVP ... Three-time Big 8 League MVP ... Twotime The Press Enterprise All-Area First Team ... Holds school record with
38-point game ... Tallied school record 2,265 career points ... Owns school
record in career three-pointers (265) ... Topped 1,000 points in sophomore
season ... Also owns single-season records at Santiago in points (656) and
three-pointers (94) ... Class salutatorian ... Maintained 4.2 GPA or higher for
entire high school career ... Four-time Santiago High School Scholar Athlete
... 2010 Leadership Award for varsity basketball ... 2010 Santiago High School
Female Athlete of the Year and Principal’s Award winner ... Coached by John
Perez ... Three-time first team All-CIF (California Interscholastic Federation)
... Three-time first team All-State selection ... Riverside County All Star Team
MVP and CIF-SS All Star Team as a senior ... ESPN CalHiSports Female of
the Week (2/6/10) ... Ranked by ESPN Hoopgurlz as 25th best point guard in
the nation for the class of 2010 ... McDonald’s All-American nominee ... Team
posted school-best record of 31-4 as a senior ... Won Big 8 League and played
in the school’s first CIF-SS Division IAA Championship ... Advanced to state
tournament for first time ... Finished 23-7 as a junior, winning the Big 8 League
title ... Team won Mountain View League title as a sophomore (2008).

PERSONAL Daughter of Happi and Devland Lister ... Has two sisters
(Cinnamon and Kayla) and one brother (Jordan) ... Twin sister Cinnamon is
a freshman on Boise State’s basketball team ... Father is a children’s pastor
... Mother is a paralegal ... Chose Vanderbilt over Nebraska, Oregon, Boise
State, Long Beach State and Oregon State ... Began playing basketball at age
7 ... Aspires to go to medical school ... Favorites include Chris Paul, Nacho
Libre and Wiz Khalifa.

2010-11 (Redshirt) Redshirted after tearing her right ACL during the
team’s first preseason practice.

2011 PROSPECTS Two-sport athlete will improve the team’s depth at
guard and see action at the one and two guards this season.

HIGH SCHOOL (Butler) The last member of Vanderbilt’s freshman class
to sign with the Commodores ... Averaged 14 points and nine rebounds as
a senior ... Captain for 2010 squad that won the 4A State Championship ...
Scored 1,281 points as a four-year starter ... Coached by Stephanie Butler
... Named 2010 North Carolina Female Athlete of the Year by the Charlotte
Observer ... Selected to All-State team as a senior ... Three-time All-Conference selection ... Team was ranked 17th in the nation’s top 25 by MaxPreps in
2010 ... In summer of 2009 was selected to travel to Tokyo, Japan, as a member of the Candace Parker Aces, an Adidas Grassroots Global travel team
... A top 25 post prospect by ESPN’s Hoopgurlz ... McDonald’s All-America
nominee ... Member of National Honor Society ... Four-time state champion in
track and field (shot put).

HIGH SCHOOL (Archbishop Spalding) Averaged 10.9 points and 4.9
assists and three steals for a team that finished the regular season 27-2 overall and was invited to play in the ESPN Rise National High School Invitational
under Head Coach Bookie Rosemond ... Team was the tournament’s No. 1
seed and lost in the semifinals on April 1 ... Baltimore Sun’s Player of the Year
after guiding Archbishop Spalding to the Interscholastic Athletic Association
of Maryland Conference Championship ... Ranked No. 108 by Blue Star Report
and as the 49th-best point guard in the class of 2011 by ESPN HoopGurlz ...
3-time first team All-Metro, Baltimore Sun ... 2010 & 2011 First team All-Metro,
Washington Post ... As a junior averaged 13 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds
en route to leading Archbishop Spalding High School to a 23-6 record and
the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland championship game ...
She was also a first team All-Met selection by the Washington Post in 2010
... Four-time first team All-County Capital/Gazette pick as well as first team
All-IAAM “A” Conference selection ... Three-year team captain and threetime team MVP ... Played AAU for the Lady Terps under Head Coach Robert
Hildreth ... Squad is the seven-time Maryland State/Regional Champions ...
Standout forward on her high school soccer team, which she helped lead to a
runner-up finish at state in 2010 ... She is a two-time first team all-state selection and was the 2009 and 2010 Capital/Gazette Soccer Player of the Year ...
She also earned first team All-Metro honors in 2008, 2009 and 2010 from the
Washington Post and Baltimore Sun ... Was captain of soccer team in 2010.

ACADEMICS
major.

Enrolled in the college of arts and science ... Undecided on

PERSONAL Daughter of Mark and Nancy Watkins ... Father is a meteorologist ... Mother is a doctor’s aid ... Has two brothers, Stewart (32) and Jackson
(10) ... Chose Vanderbilt over Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Clemson,
Texas, Purdue, Indiana, Kansas and Georgia Tech ... Chose No. 55 because
it is the largest number available ... Favorite’s include Lauren Jackson and
Million Dollar baby.

ACADEMICS

Undecided major.

PERSONAL Daughter of Pat and Kelly Morrison ... Has four siblings, three
brothers and one sister ... Oldest brother, Patrick, plays lacrosse at Maryland
and sister, Bridget, plays lacrosse at Oregon ... Has two younger brothers,
Brian and Sean ... Peer mentor and tutor ... Also considered Drexel, Kansas
State and Louisville.

Fact Book

19

Player Information
Kady Schrann

Nadine Ndip

3

2011 PROSPECTS
depth at point guard.

Walked onto the team in the summer and will provide

HIGH SCHOOL (Klein) Two-year captain and starter and three-year
letterwinner at Klein High School, graduating in 2010 ... First team all-district
and academic all-district honors as a senior ... Voted team MVP and selected
to the Spring Branch All-Tournament Team as a senior ... Earned academic
all-district and honorable mention all-district as a junior ... Team qualified
for district play in 2007 and 2008 ... Graduated Cum Laude and a member of
National Honor Society.
ACADEMICS
science.

5

Freshman Guard
5’ 8”
Spring, Texas
Klein HS

Undecided major, but planning to major in biological

PERSONAL Daughter of Samuel and Geraldine Ndip ... Middle of three
sisters, Melissa oldest and Ashley youngest ... Born in Denver, Colo. ... Played
AAU with Taylor Schippers and Liz Donohue, both of which play at Oklahoma
State ... Begun playing basketball at age 7 ... Favorite player is Kobe Bryant ...
Favorite sport other than basketball is wakeboarding.

Freshman Guard
5’ 9”
York, Pa.
York Catholic HS

2012 PROSPECTS Top-rated recruit is extremely versatile and will play
multiple positions during the year.
HIGH SCHOOL (York Catholic) Ranked No. 48 overall and as the 10thbest point guard by ESPN Hoopgurlz ... State’s AA Player of the Year after
averaging 17.2 points ... The Fighting Irish started the season 30-0 before
falling in the state quarterfinals by one point ... Closed her career with 2,161
points and was named to the class AA all-state first team four straight years
... Finished with 118-13 overall record, a state title and two state runner-up
finishes ... Two-year captain ... Coached by Kevin Bankos ... Won four straight
District 3 Class AA championships ... As a junior averaged 18 points per game
and helped her school to a 28-4 season and a runner-up finish at state ...
Played AAU basketball for Head Coach Bill McDonough and the Lady Running
Rebels ... Team won the AAU regional championship and the Penn State Blue
Chip Tournament in 2010 ... Also was a standout on the cross country team,
where she qualified for the state championships in 2007, 2008 and 2009 ... Was
cross country MVP for three years.
ACADEMICS

Undecided major.

PERSONAL Daughter of Kris and Kathy Schrann ... Has two older siblings,
brother, Kruz and sister, Kamber ... Big Brothers and Big Sisters tutor ... Chose
number because of five people being in her family and because of Kevin
Garnett ... Favorite basketball player is Derrick Rose ... Also considered Penn
State, James Madison, Delaware, West Virginia and Pitt.

20

Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball 2011-12

Player Information
Commodore Superlatives
Which teammate would be best for a reality TV show?

Best dressed?

Maggie Morrison (5)

Tiffany Clarke (7)

Elan Brown (2)

Nadine Ndip (2)

Which teammate is most likely to be president of the U.S.?

Who is the best cook?

Gabby Smith (7)

Elan Brown (8)

Stephanie Holzer (1)

Jordan Coleman (2)

Clair Watkins (1)
Nadine Ndip (1)

Who is typically fashionably late?
Tiffany Clarke (7)

Who is the best dancer on the team?

Jordan Coleman (3)

Jasmine Lister (6)
Stephanie Holzer (2)

Who is the best pure shooter?

Tiffany Clarke (2)

Christina Foggie (6)
Gabby Smith (3)

Who is the best singer on the team?
Jordan Coleman (7)

Who is the most physical player?

Elan Brown (2)

Tiffany Clarke (7)
Gabby Smith (2)

Who is the funniest on the team?
Kady Schrann (4)

Fastest player?

Elan Brown (3)

Jasmine Lister (8)

Jordan Coleman (3)

Kady Schrann (3)

Who is the best student?
Gabby Smith (6)
Stephanie Holzer (3)

Fact Book

21

Coaching & Support Staff
Melanie Balcomb • Head Coach
Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball program has been a
model of consistency under 10th-year Head Coach Melanie
Balcomb. In nine seasons at the helm, Balcomb has guided
the Commodores to nine NCAA Tournaments, nine 20-win
seasons, eight top 25 finishes, three SEC Tournament Championships and four Sweet 16 appearances.
Since her hiring in 2002, Balcomb has elevated an already
tradition-rich program and guided it to new heights. Just last
season, Balcomb became the third coach in school history
to reach 200 career wins, while also becoming the fastest to
reach the milestone. Balcomb accomplished the feat in 275
games, five games sooner than Jim Foster.
With a 215-84 record at Vanderbilt, Balcomb’s winning
percentage of 71.9% is greater than any coach in school history. In her nine seasons at the
helm, Balcomb has averaged 23.8 wins per season, won 83.0 percent of games played at
Memorial Gym, posted an 8-1 record in the NCAA first round, developed eight WNBA Draft
picks, and most importantly, graduated 100% of her players.
An 18-year head coaching veteran, Balcomb is a renowned offensive strategist. In her
nine seasons at Vanderbilt that reputation has only been enhanced. Each season under
Balcomb, Vanderbilt has ranked in the top 20 in field-goal percentage and has an average
national ranking of 8th (47.5%). The offensive success also extends beyond the arc where
the Commodores have an average national rank of 14th (38.1%) in three-point field goal
percentage.
The Commodores have finished in the top five nationally in field-goal percentage four
times and in the top five in three-point field-goal percentage three times under Balcomb.
Her teams have also finished in the top five in assists per game, free-throw percentage and
scoring offense.
Balcomb’s teams have found success throughout every season on West End, but specifically seem to click down the home stretch. In nine seasons, Balcomb’s teams have won
73.6% (56-20) of its final nine regular season games.
Balcomb’s success as a head coach is not limited to Vanderbilt. Before arriving at Vanderbilt, Balcomb had successful coaching tenures at Ashland (Ohio) and Xavier. In total, she has
coached 500-plus games, winning 67% of the time and averaging 22 wins per season.
Last season featured many obstacles that Balcomb successfully maneuvered through
to reach another NCAA Tournament and finish third in the SEC. Injuries took an unfortunate
toll on the team throughout the year with at least one of Vanderbilt’s five leading scorers
unavailable for 14 out of the team’s 32 games. Injuries coupled with matching Georgia for the
fewest upperclassmen in the SEC challenged Balcomb to use different personnel groupings
regularly.
Despite the challenges, Balcomb again reached 20 wins, finishing 20-12 and 10-6 in the
SEC. Individually, Balcomb helped Jence Rhoads earn honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press in addition to first team All-SEC recognition. Rhoads was also
a WBCA Region 3 All-American. Freshman center Stephanie Holzer was named honorable
mention All-SEC, SEC Sixth Woman of the Year and to the SEC All-Freshmen team. Freshman
point guard Jasmine Lister was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Balcomb started at Vanderbilt in 2002 and wasted no time in implementing her own style
of winning. Working to transition veteran players into a new system while building new team
chemistry, Balcomb’s first year saw the Commodores win six of their last seven regular
season games, earn an NCAA Tournament berth, and lead the nation in field goal percentage
(51.3) against the fourth toughest schedule in the country. She was named a finalist for the
Naismith Coach of the Year award.
In 2003-04, Balcomb led the Commodores to their fourth Southeastern Conference Tournament title. She masterfully balanced strong upper-class leadership with exciting freshmen
talent, winning 10 consecutive games and advancing to the program’s 11th Sweet 16 appearance. One year later, her team made its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Sweet 16. The

22

Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball 2011-12

BALCOMB FILE
Born
Sept. 24, 1962, in Princeton, N.J.
Parents
Alan and Barbara Balcomb of
Cranbury, N.J.
High School
Hightstown
College
Trenton State
(The College of New Jersey)
Degrees
Bachelor of Science (1984)
Master’s of Education (1985)
Sports Administration/Athletic
Management
Coaching Career
2002-present_____________ Vanderbilt
_____________________ Head Coach
1995-2002___________________ Xavier
_____________________ Head Coach
1993-95____________________Ashland
_____________________ Head Coach
1990-93_________________ Providence
__________________ Assistant Coach
1989-90______________________ Ohio
__________________ Assistant Coach
1985-90____________________Niagara
__________________ Assistant Coach
PLAYING Career
1982-85_______________ Trenton State
Four-year letterwinner… 1,000-Point
Club… Academic All-American
1980-81____________ Georgia Southern
Played a semester before transferring
to Trenton State College
1976-80_____________ Hightstown H.S.
Inducted into the Hightstown High
School Hall of Fame in 1996

Commodores posted the most wins (10) in the program’s history in Southeastern
Conference play finishing with a 10-4 record.
The Commodores were ranked seventh in the final AP poll of the 2006-07 season, and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning another SEC
Tournament title. That Vanderbilt squad was the nation’s best three-point shooting
team, and ranked among the top 10 in points scored. The team’s 28-6 mark was
the best record for a VU squad in 14 years.
The 2008 season was also one of Balcomb’s most impressive coaching jobs.
Despite graduating three All-SEC seniors, she led the Commodores to a 25-9
record and the school’s 13th appearance in the NCAA sweet 16, all with two
freshmen and no seniors in the starting lineup.
In 2009, Vanderbilt won its sixth SEC Tournament title, the third for Balcomb
in the last six years. The team also advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the 14th
time in school history -- Balcomb’s fourth trip with the Commodores. Vanderbilt
finished the year ranked No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll after narrowly missing an upset of No. 1 seed Maryland in the Raleigh Regional Semifinal.
National accolades came flooding in for Vanderbilt, including senior Jennifer Risper being named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)
National Defensive Player of the Year. Risper and classmate Christina Wirth, who
herself was named an All-American and the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year,
were both selected in the 2009 WNBA Draft.
In 2010 Balcomb was faced with one of her most challenging tasks. Faced with
replacing National Defensive Player of the Year Jennifer Risper and All-American
Christina Wirth, Balcomb guided an undersized team back to the NCAA Tournament, where they narrowly missed advancing to their third consecutive sweet 16.
Despite having to overcome numerous injuries throughout out the season
and a size disadvantage in almost every game, Vanderbilt finished the season
23-11 overall. Individually, Balcomb helped junior point guard Jence Rhoads earn
first team All-SEC honors, while senior shooting guard Merideth Marsh earned
second team All-SEC accolades. Elan Brown and Tiffany Clarke were also named
to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
In nine seasons at Vanderbilt, Balcomb has won 12 games in the NCAA
Tournament, which ranks 13th among active coaches for most wins in the NCAA
Tournament during that time. She holds a winning percentage of 67.1 against SEC
opponents. In all, Balcomb owns series advantages over 10 of the 11 schools in
the SEC.
Before arriving at Vanderbilt, the Cranbury, N.J., native spent seven seasons
at Xavier University. Beginning in 1995, her up-tempo style wreaked havoc on
the Atlantic 10 while building the Musketeers into a national contender. In 1998,
Xavier recorded its second postseason appearance in school history with a
selection to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Each of the next three
seasons, Xavier competed in the NCAA Tournament, capped in 2001 by a victory
over perennial power Tennessee and a run to the Elite Eight.
En route to earning three invitations to the NCAA Tournament and compiling
a 136-78 record during her tenure, Balcomb’s offensive schemes helped push
Xavier onto the national stage. Musketeer field-goal percentages ranked among
the top three in the nation during three different seasons while the 1999 squad
led the country in 3-point accuracy at 40.1 percent. Her 2000-01 squad averaged
79.4 points per game, the highest total in program history. Individual records were
rewritten as well. Of the 15 Musketeers who have scored at least 1,000 points in a
career, six of them played on Balcomb-coached teams.
Before her accomplishments at Xavier, Balcomb took her first head coaching
position at Ashland University. Prosperity was immediate as Balcomb’s first unit
matched the best record in school history at 18-9 while registering its first winning season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with an 11-7 mark.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Balcomb served three years as an assistant
at Providence College (1990-93), during which the Friars went 62-30, made two
NCAA Tournament appearances and once (1990-91) led the nation in scoring

Fact Book

23

Coaching & Support Staff
while they amassed a 26-6 record. In 1989-90, Balcomb was an
assistant at Ohio University and she began her coaching career
with a four-year stint (1985-89) on the staff at Niagara University.
In all, Balcomb has coached 19 players who have received
All-SEC accolades. Nine of her players have been drafted by the
WNBA, including VU’s Chantelle Anderson, Ashley McElhiney,
Jenni Benningfield, Ashley Earley, Carla Thomas, Dee Davis and
Christina Wirth. Her Xavier teams won two league tournament
titles (2000 and 2001) and one regular-season championship in the
Atlantic 10 Conference (2001).
Xavier’s successes during the Balcomb era helped push for
construction of the Cintas Center, a state of the art facility which
became home to Xavier basketball at the start of the 2000-01 season and - ironically - was dedicated with a victory over Vanderbilt.
That season the program posted a school record for attendance
with a total of 40,098 fans, who thrilled in the Musketeers’ style
of play and their results. Commodore followers have enjoyed the
entertainment as well.
Her basketball education began at an early age among some of
the most well respected coaches in the game. Balcomb’s father,
Alan, was a varsity boy’s coach for 30 years at South Brunswick
(N.J.) High School, and then served as an assistant for four years at
Princeton University under Pete Carril, the master of the half-court
game.
For Balcomb, however, a complete education goes far beyond
the hardwood. Every eligible, four-year player during Balcomb’s
coaching tenure has earned her degree. In May of 2011, Balcomb’s
team earned a Public Recognition Award for finishing among the
nation’s top 10 percent in multi-year Academic Progress Rates
(APR). Six of seven squads at Xavier earned team grade point
averages that ranked in the Top 25. In 2004-05, 40 percent of the
Commodore basketball team was named to the Southeastern
Conference Academic Honor Roll. Vanderbilt led the SEC with eight
players being named to the honor roll in 2003-04.
Two Commodores have been named SEC Scholar Athletes of the
Year under Balcomb. Hillary Hager received the honor in 2004 and
Christina Wirth won it in 2009. With was also named a 2009 Lowe’s
Senior CLASS All-American, while receiving WBCA and NCAA
post-graduate scholarships. Hager recently returned to Vanderbilt
and received her doctorate in 2010.
Balcomb also stresses the importance of community service
to her teams. VU logged more than 95 hours of community service
last season, including numerous opportunities to visit with young
patients at the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. After the devastating Nashville flood in 2010, Balcomb and her coaching staff
volunteered in helping to clean up flood-damaged areas. Balcomb
herself has been active in outreach to the surrounding area,
participating in numerous fundraising events for local and national
organizations, including Coaches vs. Cancer, the Race for the Cure,
Mercy Ministries, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and the Girl Scouts
of America. She joined colleagues to represent the SEC in the 2008
4Kay Golf Classic to benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
An avid golfer, Balcomb finds time to make it to beach on her
rare weeks off, and also enjoys reading.

Vicky Picott has served as an
assistant coach under Melanie Balcomb for the past decade, including
the last nine years as the post coach
for the Commodores.
Under Picott the Commodores’
inside presence has played a large
role in the team having an average
national rank of 8th in field-goal percentage under Balcomb.
The last few seasons have produced some of Picott’s finest coaching
efforts. In 2009, the Commodores lost their starting center due to injury
shortly before postseason play and Picott employed the 5-foot-8 Jennifer
Risper to occupy the middle of the court. Despite a size disadvantage,
Risper and forward Christina Wirth guided the Commodores to the SEC
Tournament title and the Sweet 16.
In 2010, Picott again was faced with having an undersized interior.
However, despite being small in stature, the Commodores advanced to
the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Picott also helped forwards
Elan Brown and Tiffany Clarke earn SEC All-Freshman honors.
In 2011, Picott helped freshman center Stephanie Holzer earn SEC
Sixth Woman of the Year, honorable mention All-SEC and a spot on the
SEC All-Freshman team.
Picott has developed a number of inside players at Vanderbilt into
professional prospects, including 2007 first-round WNBA draft pick Carla
Thomas. In seven seasons, six Commodores under Picott’s tutelage
have been selected in the WNBA draft, including Thomas (Chicago),
second-overall pick Chantelle Anderson (2003, Sacramento), Wirth (2009,
Indiana), Risper (2009, Chicago), Jenni Benningfield (2004, Indiana) and
Earley (2005, Indiana).
“The consistency that Vicky Picott has given our team has been invaluable,” Balcomb said. “You can’t win without that consistency. Vicky is an
extremely knowledgeable teacher with a passion for the game that sets
her apart. I’m always telling kids that if they want to go to the pros as a
post, they need to come play for Vicky.”
Picott, who prepped at the same high school that produced Balcomb,
came to Nashville with her fellow New Jerseyan in 2002 after two seasons at Xavier.
There, Picott helped direct the Musketeers to a 43-22 mark, including the 2000-01 campaign that featured a trip to the NCAA Tournament
Mideast Regional Finals. Before joining Balcomb at Xavier, Picott served
as an assistant coach at Temple from 1995-2000. She also worked as an
assistant coach at Drexel during the 1994-95 season.
Picott is a 1992 graduate of Rutgers University. She still ranks fourth
in school history in career points (1,792), third in rebounds (1,029) and
fifth in steals (225). A four-year starter at Rutgers, Picott was named the
Atlantic-10 Freshman of the Year following the 1998 season.
She earned all-conference honors three times and was a two-time
Most Valuable Player of her team. Picott also earned the New Jersey
Sports Writers Player of the Year and District II Regional All-America
honors her senior season. For her efforts, Picott was inducted into the
Rutgers Hall of Fame on April 26, 1998.
Picott boasts extensive international experience, as well. She was
selected to two Olympic Festival Teams (1987, 1989) and was a member
of the Junior World Championship team that brought won gold after
competing in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Picott played in the Women’s Professional Basketball Association in Luxembourg (1992-93), helping to lead
the Etzella Team to the Luxembourg Cup Championship. While in Luxembourg, she continued her development in coaching by working with high
school teams.

Kim Rosamond is in her fifth season
at Vanderbilt as assistant coach and
recruiting coordinator for Melanie
Balcomb’s Commodores.
Hired before the 2007-08 season
Rosamond brought 10 years of SEC
experience as a player and coach
with her to Vanderbilt, in addition to two season spent locally at Middle
Tennessee State. Rosamond coordinates Vanderbilt’s recruiting efforts
while also contributing to every facet of scouting, player development
and on-court strategy.
Rosamond’s impact in recruiting was felt almost immediately. In 2009,
2010 and 2011, Rosamond was instrumental in the Commodores bringing in recruiting classes that were ranked among the nation’s best by
numerous reporting services.
In each of the last two seasons, two players Rosamond helped bring
to Vanderbilt earned SEC All-Freshman honors. In 2010 it was Elan
Brown and Tiffany Clarke and in 2011 it was Stephanie Holzer (redshirt)
and Jasmine Lister.
“Kim has come in and made recruiting a full-time job,” Balcomb said.
“She is really helping us get ahead on the recruiting front, and get after
that next-level talent. Kim is high energy and takes a great deal of pride
in her job. On top of doing a tremendous amount of relationship-building
for us, Kim has an outstanding knowledge of the game of basketball.”
At MTSU, Rosamond was hired by Stephany Smith in 2003 as an
assistant coach. She would serve as the interim head coach when Smith
left in 2005. During her tenure in Murfreesboro, the Lady Raiders boasted
consecutive 24-win seasons while capturing a pair of Sun Belt Conference championships and scoring two first-round NCAA Tournament
upsets (over North Carolina and North Carolina State, respectively).
Prior to her time at MTSU, Rosamond spent five years as an assistant
at her alma mater, Ole Miss. She was hired onto Coach Ron Aldy’s staff
in 1998 just months after graduating and would be promoted to recruiting
coordinator in 2001.
Rosamond was responsible for bringing a pair Top 50 classes to
Oxford. Two Tennessee Miss Basketball selections were included in her
Lady Rebel classes, with her final group of signees — highlighted by AllAmerican Armintie Price — having reached the NCAA Elite Eight in 2007.
Rosamond attended high school at Winston Academy in Louisville,
Miss., where she was recruited to Ole Miss by Van Chancellor. She
was a four-year letterwinner for the Lady Rebels (1995-98). Following
her senior year, Rosamond was the recipient of the team’s Lady Rebel
Award, which is given to the player who excels on and off the court.
As a student-athlete at Ole Miss, Rosamond was the first Lady Rebel
to earn All-SEC Academic honors in all four years of her collegiate
career.
After serving as the Interim Head Coach at MTSU following the
2005 season, Rosamond worked in the private sector prior to coming to
Vanderbilt.

tom garrick
Assistant Coach
Third Season
Rhode Island, 1989
Tom Garrick is the newest
member of Melanie Balcomb’s
coaching staff. A former Head
Coach at the University of Rhode
Island, Garrick joined Vanderbilt’s staff as an assistant coach
in the summer of 2009.
Garrick focuses on working with the team’s guards, and
his impact has been felt immediately. In 2011, Garrick helped
Jence Rhoads earn honorable mention All-America honors
and first team All-SEC. He was also vital in the development of
freshmen Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie. Lister earned
SEC All-Freshman honors at point guard.
In his first year with the Commodores, Garrick helped
Vanderbilt advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and also played a role in Vanderbilt ranking second in
the SEC in field-goal percentage and three-point field-goal
percentage.
Before arriving at Vanderbilt, Garrick spent the past 11 years
coaching at his alma mater, including 2005-09 as the head
coach of the Rams’ women’s basketball team.
“Tom brings an exceptional wealth of knowledge with him to
our program,” Balcomb said. “I know Tom’s vast experience —
as both a player and a coach — will be an invaluable asset to
our program.”
Garrick began his coaching career as an assistant for the
Rhode Island men’s team in 1998-99, helping the Rams win the
Atlantic-10 Championship in his first year. In 2001, he moved
over to the women’s side to work under Head Coach Boe
Pearman.
When Pearman took a leave of absence in 2004, Garrick
was named the acting head coach. He would take an assistant coaching position at the University of Virginia that spring
before returning to Rhode Island in August to become the
school’s sixth head coach.
An outstanding player at Rhode Island, Garrick was drafted
by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1988 and would play in the NBA
for four seasons, including stints in San Antonio, Minnesota
and Dallas. Garrick’s professional career also took the “Ocean
State” native overseas to play in Germany, Turkey and Spain
during a five-year span.
Garrick earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from
Rhode Island, where he was a four-year letterwinner for the
men’s basketball team. Nicknamed “the Chief,” he led the 1988
squad to the Sweet 16, while compiling a program-best 28-7
record. Garrick still ranks among the school’s all-time Top 10
in scoring (1,573 points) steals (189) and assists (407), and was
inducted into the URI Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.
During his prep career, Garrick was a two-time all-state
basketball player for West Warwick (R.I.) High School, while
also excelling in football.

26

First Season
Vanderbilt, 2005
Chanell Thomas begins her
first season on Melanie Balcomb’s staff as the team’s director of basketball operations.
Thomas serves as the primary
liaison between the women’s
basketball staff and other support
areas, while also coordinating team travel and over seeing the
student manager program.
Thomas is no stranger to the Vanderbilt women’s basketball
program. She was part of the student manager program at
Vanderbilt, including a stint at head manager. Thomas graduated from Vanderbilt in 2005 with a degree in human and organizational development from the Peabody College.
She also worked with the team as graduate administrative
assistant during the 2005-06 season.
Her basketball experience also includes time on the support staff for USA Basketball during the 2001 World University
Games in Beijing, China.
After earning a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from Peabody in 2007, Thomas worked at Belmont
University as a federal work study counselor in the financial
services office before returning to her alma mater in 2008 as a
financial aid officer.
Originally from Tuscaloosa, Ala., Thomas was raised in
Columbia, Tenn. She has one daughter, Yvonne (4).

REBECCA SILINSKI
Graduate Assistant
First Season
Vanderbilt, 2011
Rebecca Silinski, a four-year
letterwinner for the Commodores
from 2008-11, is now in her first
season on Melanie Balcomb’s
staff. Silinski graduated in May
and is in her first year in graduate
school.
Silinski appeared in 63 games over her career, while starting six contests as a senior. She notched a career-high eight
points as a junior against Ole Miss, before matching that total
her senior year versus Quinnipiac. She was one of three team
captains last season.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Silinski earned a degree in Political
Science and Communications Studies from Vanderbilt’s College
of Arts & Sciences in 2011. She is currently working towards a
master’s in Leadership and Organizational Performance.

Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball 2011-12

Coaching & Support Staff
Support Staff
Candice lee

michele loftis

Associate Director of
Student Athletics/SWA

Athletic Trainer

A former four-year letterwinner for Vanderbilt’s women’s
basketball team, Candice Lee
has served as Vanderbilt’s
Senior Woman Administrator and
Compliance Director since 2004.
Lee also serves as an associate director of student athletics,
and has overseen the operation of Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball program since 2008. In July, 2010 she began overseeing
Vanderbilt Student Services.
A former post player for the Commodores, Lee graduated
with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2000. Lee also received
her master’s degree in education from Vanderbilt in 2002. Lee is
currently a doctoral candidate in Vanderbilt’s Higher Education
Administration program.
As a player, Lee helped the Commodores to three NCAA
Tournament appearances after redshirting her first season. Lee
was a former Gatorade Player of the Year in Alabama.
A native of Madison, Ala., the former Candice Storey has
been married to Sean Lee for two years.

tasha weddle
Strength & Conditioning
Tasha Weddle is entering her
seventh season as the strength
and conditioning coach for the
Vanderbilt women’s basketball
team. Weddle also works with
the Commodore women’s bowling,
lacrosse and soccer programs.
A native of Trafalgar, Ind.,
Weddle played basketball at
North Carolina State before transferring to play at Evansville.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Evansville in sports science in 1996.
No stranger to the Southeastern Conference, Weddle began
her professional career as a graduate assistant at the University
of Tennessee. Weddle’s first full-time opportunity came at Kent
State University. She then worked with the Purdue University
Boilermakers for five seasons before coming to Nashville.
Weddle designs year-round strength and conditioning plans
for each specific student-athlete, ensuring the maximum benefit to every player. In May 2011, Weddle was named Master
Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and
Conditioning Coaches Association.
“Our conditioning program is better than it’s ever been,”
Coach Balcomb said. “The attitude and effort is really high, and
everyone on our team is stronger and more fit. The entire team
has bought into Tash’s system and the results are showing.”

Michele Loftis enters her eighth
season with the women’s basketball
team at Vanderbilt.
Loftis earned her bachelors degree from the University of
Nebraska at Omaha in exercise science with minors in athletic training
as well as psychology. She received
her masters of science in sports and
recreation management from the
University of Idaho in 2000. Loftis worked with the Vandals until 2004,
serving as the primary athletic trainer for numerous sports.
A certified athletic trainer licensed in the state of Tennessee,
Loftis is an examiner for the NATA’s Board of Certification and serves
as the treasurer of the SEC Athletic Trainers Committee.

vicki spina
Administrative Assistant
Vicki Spina has been an integral
part of the Vanderbilt women’s basketball program since 1995, when
she was hired as the team’s administrative assistant.
Now entering her 17th season,
Spina continues to manage the dayto-day operations of the women’s
basketball office, including event
planning and coordinating Coach
Balcomb’s schedule. Prior to joining the Commodore staff, Spina
enjoyed positions with Delta Airlines, Philip Morris and Hallmark Cards.
A native of Fox Lake, Ill., the former Vicki Jones has been married
to Mike Spina for 31 years. The couple currently resides in Brentwood,
Tenn. They have three grown children — Lauren, Jennifer and Philip —
and two grandchildren — Josie and Michael.

CHRISTY HOGAN
Academic Services
Coordinator
Christy Hogan is entering her
seventh season as the academic services coordinator for the Vanderbilt
women’s basketball team.
Her background as a two-sport
athlete at the University of Richmond
makes her a perfect resource for
Commodore student-athletes. A
four-year starter in field hockey and
lacrosse, Hogan relates to the student-athlete experience like few
others can.
Hogan began her professional career as an assistant lacrosse
coach at Notre Dame before working as an academic counselor for the
Fighting Irish football, softball, and women’s soccer teams, while earning her masters in secondary education at Indiana.
The former Christy Yarnell, Hogan and husband Rex reside in
Nashville with their three children, McKenna, Ryan and Erin.

Fact Book

27

VANDERBILT ADMINISTRATION
NICHOLAS ZEPPOS • Chancellor

Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos was raised in Milwaukee, where
he spent many an afternoon watching the great Hank Aaron of the
Braves slug home runs in the old County Stadium.
Named Vanderbilt’s eighth chancellor in 2008, Zeppos has taken
a keen interest in athletics at Vanderbilt during his more than two
decades at the university.
“I don’t do the operations,” Zeppos said. “I don’t call the plays, I
don’t throw the passes. I see my job as simply trying to do whatever
I can to support all of the talented people who do these things.”
This support has included the endorsement of an athletics capital
improvement plan expected to surpass $50 million, which orchestrates efforts to improve the student experience for athletes and
assists with recruiting.
“One thing I consider the ultimate compliment is when a coach
calls me and says, ‘I’ve got a couple of recruits here. Could you
meet them?’”
A distinguished legal scholar, teacher and executive, Zeppos
served from 2002 to February 2008 as Vanderbilt’s chief academic
officer, overseeing the university’s undergraduate, graduate and
professional education programs and research in liberal arts and
sciences, engineering, music, education, business, law, and divinity. As provost and vice chancellor, he chaired Vanderbilt’s budgeting and capital planning council, as well as oversaw the dean of
students and dean of admissions.
Zeppos has led a number of important initiatives at Vanderbilt,
including the planning process for The Commons, a landmark
transformation of the first-year experience; the Strategic Academic
Planning Group; innovative efforts in undergraduate admissions
and financial aid; and the development of new programs in Jewish

28

studies, law and economics, and genetics, among others.
In a bold move to strengthen Vanderbilt’s commitment to admitting undergraduates on the basis of accomplishment and achievement, rather than
their ability to pay, in 2009, Zeppos created an expanded financial
aid program. By replacing undergraduate need-based loans with
grant and scholarship assistance, this transformative initiative
opened the university’s doors wider to highly talented and qualified
students of all economic, cultural and geographical backgrounds.
The expanded aid program is funded by a combination of strategic
budget allocations and the university’s Shape the Future fundraising campaign, which under Zeppos’ leadership exceeded its $1.25
billion goal two years ahead of schedule and set a new target of
$1.75 billion by 2011.
Zeppos was recognized with five teaching awards at the law
school before serving as an associate dean, associate provost, and
provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. He also served
as interim chancellor for eight months prior to being formally
appointed as Vanderbilt’s eighth chancellor on March 1, 2008. He is
a member of the 2010-11 executive committee of the
Southeastern Conference.
In the Nashville community, Zeppos serves on the boards of the
Nashville
Area Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Alliance for Public
Education.
From 1982 to 1987, Zeppos practiced law in Washington, D.C.,
at the United States Department of Justice and at Wilmer, Cutler
& Pickering, where he specialized in appellate litigation involving
complex regulatory, statutory and constitutional matters.
Zeppos is a 1979 magna cum laude graduate of the University
of Wisconsin Law School, where he served as editor in chief of
the Wisconsin Law Review and was selected as the outstanding
graduate of his class. He studied history during his undergraduate
years at the university, where he was a 1976 Phi Beta Kappa graduate.
He is married to Lydia A. Howarth, a graduate of the University of
Chicago and Lawrence University, who is an editor. They have two
sons, Benjamin and Nicholas.

Few Commodores enjoy Vanderbilt Athletics’ successes more than Vice
Chancellor David Williams II.
Whether supporting coaches and student-athletes, presiding over
important athletic activities, or debating strategic policy changes in
Commodore athletics, Williams plays a key leadership role in the administration of Vanderbilt Athletics.
For the last eight years, Williams has guided Vanderbilt Athletics into a
bold new direction while serving as Vice Chancellor for University Affairs
and Athletics.
Under Williams, the Vanderbilt program has many successes on and off
the field of competition. Williams has directed an initiative to more fully
integrate Commodore athletics into the total Vanderbilt experience.
Today, Williams’ efforts have placed the Vanderbilt program among the
most innovative in the nation. Since sweeping changes were initiated in
2003, Williams has firmly placed his stamp on the program. He has overseen the recruitment and hiring of seven outstanding head coaches. His
tenure has witnessed substantial improvement in academic performance
by Vanderbilt student-athletes. Williams also has addressed numerous facility upgrades, including an extensive refurbishing of Vanderbilt
Stadium, expansion of Hawkins Field, addition of new tennis courts and
renovations in Memorial Gym.
Under Williams, Vanderbilt Athletics have prospered. Since 2006-07, at
least eight sports have participated in postseason action each year. Eight
Vanderbilt athletes have been selected in the first round of their respective sports in the last five years. Off the field, student-athletes’ collective
GPA has reached its highest level in more than a decade. In addition,
numerous teams and student-athletes have engaged in overseas travel.
Athletics is but a small part of Williams’ influential Vanderbilt role.
Williams also serves as General Counsel directing a staff of 14 attorneys
and Secretary of Vanderbilt and its nationally recognized Medical Center.
In addition, he oversees the Office of Risk Management, Compliance
and Conflict of Interest functions, and the operations of the Vanderbilt

University Board of Trust.
Williams’ campus participation also includes a tenured full professorship at the School of Law, lecturing on Tax Law, Sports Law and Education
Law. He has taught a course on Law and Higher Education at Peabody
College, and from time to time, courses in the undergraduate curriculum.
Williams has reached outside of the Vanderbilt community in the area of
intercollegiate sports. Williams served as a member of the SEC team that
negotiated the recent SEC/ESPN/CBS contract, and is beginning a threeyear term on the NCAA Division I Academic Cabinet.
He also serves as a member of the NCAA Infraction Appeals Committee.
Williams was named Vice Chancellor, General Counsel and Secretary
of Vanderbilt in 2000. His role moved toward administration of Vanderbilt
student affairs and athletics in 2002.
Williams came to Vanderbilt after serving in numerous administrative
roles at Ohio State University over a 14-year period. When he accepted
the Vanderbilt role, Williams was Vice President of Student and Urban/
Community Affairs and Professor of Law at Ohio State.
A native of Detroit, Mich., Williams received a Bachelor of Science in
Social Science and Master of Arts in Education from Northern Michigan
University where he was a member of the track team. He also earned
a Master of Business Administration and a Doctor of Jurisprudence
from the University of Detroit, and an L.L.M. in taxation from New York
University.
Before entering law school, Williams spent 10 years as a teacher and
coach in the Detroit public school system.
Williams is active in the Nashville area community, serving as an
executive member and director with several organizations. He is treasurer
and finance committee chair of both the Nashville Symphony Board of
Directors and Nashville Public Television. Some of Williams’ other board
memberships include the Nashville Sports Council, Tennessee Sports Hall
of Fame, Adventure Science Center, 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee,
the Nashville Rotary and Special Olympics Tennessee.
Professionally, Williams is an active member of the American Corporate
Counsel Association, the National Association of College and University
Attorneys and the American Bar Association. He is a member of
the Continuing Legal Education committee of both the Nashville Bar
Association and the NACUA. As a member of ABA’s Section of Business
Law, Williams has served as a member of the Corporate Counsel
Committee. He held terms on two prestigious legal committees – the ABA
Standing Committee on Public Education and the ABA Section on Legal
Education and Admissions Standards Review Committee.
Williams also is a member of the American Law Institute, and a past
member of the Harry Phillips Inn of Court. He has served on a number of
ABA Accreditation site visits of law schools and has completed a term on
the Membership Review Committee of the American Association of Law
Schools. Williams has written, lectured and participated in many seminars
on topics of tax law, sports law, law and education, and legal history.
Williams was recently elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the National Association for Colleges and University Attorneys.
Williams has taught at the law schools of the University of Detroit,
Capital University, the Ohio State University and Vanderbilt, and directed
the Ohio State University Law Program in Oxford, England in 1992 and
1995. He was elected outstanding law professor at both the University of
Detroit and Ohio State.
Williams and his wife, Gail, have two children: Samantha, who is a varsity swimmer and rising junior at Brown University, and Nicholas, who is a
10th grader at University School of Nashville and competes in cross country, basketball, track and soccer. His wife serves as the Associate Director
of Community Relations at Vanderbilt, is president of the University School
of Nashville Board of Trustees, and is the immediate past chair of the
Metro Transit Authority.

Fact Book

29

2010-11 SEASON REVIEW
Noteworthy
12th Straight NCAA Tournament

Rhoads Sets New Vanderbilt Standard

• Vanderbilt advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th straight season.

• Jence Rhoads became the first player in school history with 1,100 points, 500 assists and
400 rebounds.

• The Commodores earned the No. 10 seed in the Spokane Region. Vanderbilt lost to
Louisville in a first round game in Cincinnati.
• The loss snapped an 11-year streak of winning at least one NCAA Tournament game.

Tuomi & Rhoads top 1,000 Points

• Vanderbilt is one of eight teams in the country that has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 12 straight years.

• Seniors Jence Rhoads and Hannah Tuomi each topped 1,000 career points during their
senior seasons.

• The trip to the NCAA Tournament was Vanderbilt’s 24th all-time.
Clarke on All-SEC Tournament Team
12th Straight 20-Win Seasons
• By finishing 20-12 overall, the Commodores reached the 20-win plateau for the 12th
straight season.
• Vanderbilt has reached 20-plus wins 19 of the last 20 seasons and 25 seasons all-time.
Men & Women to Big Dance
• For just the ninth time in school history both the men’s and women’s basketball teams
advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• It was just the second time that both teams have advanced in two straight years (2007
& 2008).
Third Place in the SEC
• Vanderbilt’s overtime win in the regular season finale at South Carolina vaulted the
Commodores into third place. A loss would have put Vanderbilt in fifth place, matching the
team’s 2010 league finish.
• Vanderbilt has finished in the top four of the league four of the last five years and hasn’t
finished below a tie for fifth since 2000.

• Tiffany Clarke was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team after averaging 20.5 points
and 13.0 rebounds in two games.
Statistically Speaking
• Vanderbilt finished the 2010-11 season ranked 14th nationally in field-goal percentage
(45.1%).
• Since 2000, Vanderbilt and UCONN are the only two programs to rank in the top 20 in
field-goal percentage every year.
Topping 200 wins
• Head Coach Melanie Balcomb became the third Vanderbilt coach to reach 200 wins
when the Commodores beat Southern Illinois on Dec. 7.
• Balcomb was the fastest coach in school history to reach 200 wins, five games sooner
than Jim Foster.
Balanced Attack
• Four players averaged double figures in scoring for the first time since the 2004-05
season.

Vanderbilt Advances to SEC Tournament Semifinals
• For the fifth straight season Vanderbilt advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. The three-seed, Vanderbilt topped 11th-seeded Mississippi State in the quarterfinals before losing to Kentucky in the semis.
• Overall, the team hwas won at least one SEC Tournament game every year since 2000
(12 seasons).

Youth and Injuries
• In the SEC, only Georgia had as few upperclassmen as Vanderbilt did with its five.
• In 14 of the team’s 32 games, at least one of its top five leading scorers was injured and
did not play.
• Vanderbilt started three freshmen in a game at Florida State for the first time since
March 3, 1983.

Vanderbilt in the National Rankings
• Vanderbilt began the season ranked in both polls for the first four four weeks. Vanderbilt
was No. 21 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the AP Poll.
• Vanderbilt last received votes in the AP poll on Feb 14.
Rhoads an All-American
• Jence Rhoads was named honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press.
She was the ninth player in VU history to earn All-America honors from the AP.
• Rhoads was also a WBCA Region 3 All-American.

Anderson’s Jersey Retired
• All-time leading scorer Chantelle Anderson had her jersey retired during the Feb. 13
Tennessee game. The game was also the first annual WBB Reunion.
Playing on College GameDay
• Vanderbilt played at Tennessee on ESPN College GameDay on Jan. 15. It was just the
second women’s game to be featured on GameDay.
Home Sweet Home

Trio Earns SEC Honors
• Jence Rhoads, Stephanie Holzer and Jasmine Lister each earned postseason SEC
awards.
• Rhoads earned first team All-SEC honors by the league’s head coaches for the second
year in a row. She also earned second team honors from the league’s media.
• Stephanie Holzer was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and was named Sixth
Woman of the Year. Holzer was also named honorable mention All-SEC by the league’s
media.
• Jasmine Lister was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

• The Commodores finished last season with a 12-3 record at home.
• Vanderbilt has never had a losing season at Memorial Gym and has an all-time record
of 396-92 (81.1%)
• Vanderbilt began the year 12-0 at home, matching the best start in school history.
Three Seniors Graduate
• Seniors Jence Rhoads, Rebecca Silinski and Hannah Tuomi all earned their degrees in
May.
• The Commodores have a 100% graduation rate under Coach Balcomb.

LAST TIME/NCAA RANKINGS
Last time Vanderbilt
Scored 100 or more points
103, at Florida (2/6/11)
Allowed 100 or more points
102, Alabama (2/21/99)
Scored 50 or fewer points
49, vs. Tennessee (3/6/10)
Held an opponent to 45 or less points
42, vs. Ole Miss (1/30/11)
Held an opponent to 50 or less points
50, vs. LSU (2/3/11)
Scored 50 points in a half
66 (2nd), vs. Quinnipiac (11/26/10)
Scored 60 points in a half
66 (2nd), vs. Quinnipiac (11/26/10)
Allowed 50 points in a half
55 (2nd), at at Florida (2/6/11)
Scored 20 pts or less in first half
11, vs. Kentucky (3/5/11)
Scored 20 pts or less in second half
15, at LSU (2/18/10)
Scored 10 pts or less in a half
10, (1st) at LSU (1/13/08)
Held an opponent to 20 pts or less in a half
15 (1st), Tennessee (2/13/11)
Shot less than 20% from the field in a half
18.9 (1st) (7-37), at Tennessee (1/15/11)
20.0 (1st) (5-25), vs. Kentucky (3/5/11)
Shot 70% from the field
76.2 (32-42), vs. Alabama (2/4/07)
Shot 60% from the field
64.1 (25-39), at Kentucky (2/8/09)
Shot 60% for a half
63.2 (12-19, 1st), vs. Auburn (1/9/11)
Shot 65% for a half
68.0 (17-25, 1st), at Mississippi State (1/7/10)
Shot 70% for a half
70.4 (19-27, 1st), vs. Ole Miss (1/3/10)
Shot 60% from 3-PT
66.7 (2-3), vs. LSU (2/3/11)
Shot 50% from 3-PT on the road
50.0 (3-6), at South Carolina (2/27/11)
Shot 90% at the foul line
90.0 (9-10), at Xavier (3/23/10)
Made 10 or more 3-point field goals
10, vs. Howard (11/14/10)
Did not attempt a three-pointer in a half
0-0 second half, vs. LSU (2/3/11)
Attempted 45 or fewer shots
45, vs. LSU (2/3/11)
Had 50 rebounds
52, at Mississippi State (2/17/11)

Had 25 or more assists
25, vs. Tennessee State (12/20/09)
Had 15 steals
15, vs. Austin Peay (11/27/09)
Had 10 or fewer turnovers
9, at Tennessee (1/15/11)
Had 25 or more turnovers
25, vs. Kentucky (3/5/11)
27, at Tennessee (1/17/10)
Had 6 players score double figures
at Alabama (1/8/09); Risper 17, Wirth 15, Marsh 13, Rhoads 12,
Tuomi 12, Chisholm 11
Had 5 players score double figures
at Florida (2/6/11); Clarke 23, Holzer 23, Tuomi 20, Lister 15, Rhoads 11
Had 3 players score 20 or more points
at Florida (2/6/11):
Clarke 23, Holzer 23, Tuomi 20
Had a player score 40 points
40, Chantelle Anderson
vs. Portland State (12/23/01)
Had a player score 30 points
32, Carla Thomas at UAB (11/30/06)
Had a player grab 15 rebounds
17, Tiffany Clarke vs. Kentucky (3/5/11)
Had a player dish out 10 assists
10, Jence Rhoads, at Georgia (2/10/11)
Had a player collect five steals
5, Elan Brown vs. Louisville (3/20/11)
Had a player block five shots
6, Liz Sherwood vs. Mississippi State (1/10/08)
Had two double-doubles in the same game
Stephanie Holzer and Hannah Tuomi at Virginia Tech (12/30/10)
Consecutive 20-point, 10-rebound games by same player
Tiffany Clarke (2/17&20, 2011)
Three straight double-doubles by same player
Tiffany Clarke (2/17, 2/20, 2/25, 2011)
Had a game where combined 55-plus fouls were called
59, Kentucky (2/20/11)
Had a double overtime game
at Florida (2/6/11)
Had two freshmen start a season-opener
Howard (11/14/10): Jasmine Lister, Christina Foggie
Had three freshmen start
at Florida State (11/21/10): Jasmine Lister, Christina Foggie, Stephanie Holzer

Officials: Mark Zentz, Denise Brooks, Kelly Johnson
Technical fouls: Howard-None. Vanderbilt-None.
Attendance: 3504
Score by Periods
1st 2nd Total
Howard 22 33 55
Vanderbilt 49 31 80
Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Stephanie Holzer did not look like someone who
was playing in her first collegiate game on Sunday. The 6-foot-4
redshirt freshman, who missed last season due to injury, came off
the bench to score 20 points and grab 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes
as Vanderbilt posted an 80-55 season-opening win over Howard at
Memorial Gym.
Vanderbilt (1-0) won its 25th straight home opener and fifth straight
season opener thanks in part to a first half in which the Commodores
shot 64 percent from the floor, while making 8-of-11 three-pointers.
Meanwhile, Howard (0-2) shot just 29 percent from the floor in the
first half as Vanderbilt opened up a 27-point lead at intermission,
49-22. The 49 points were the most by the Commodores since scoring
52 against Tennessee State on Dec. 20, 2009.
Howard opened the game with a 4-3 advantage before the
Commodores went on a 13-0 run to take a 16-4 lead with 15:02 to play
in the first half. Vanderbilt would add to its lead behind the play of
Holzer, who scored 11 straight points for the Commodores at one point
in the first half, which triggered a 16-3 run for Vanderbilt.
Holzer finished the game 5-of-6 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the
charity stripe. Holzer also had three blocked shots and two steals to
go along with one turnover.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE (AP) - Redshirt freshman Stephanie Holzer scored 19
of her 26 points in the second half of her first start, helping No. 23
Vanderbilt pull away for a 70-60 victory over a pesky Samford team
Thursday night.
Holzer, injured last season, had nine rebounds and two blocks.
The 6-foot-4 center scored 11 straight points in the second half for
Vanderbilt (2-0).

1st 2nd Total
25 41 66
33 39
72

Game Recap
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Courtney Ward scored a career-high 31
points, making a career-best seven 3-pointers, to help No. 16 Florida
State beat 23rd-ranked Vanderbilt 72-66 on Sunday.
Freshman Natasha Howard added 11 points for FSU, which led 33-25
at the half but fought off a furious second-half charge by Vanderbilt.

“It is early in the season and it was a really good game for both
teams,” Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb said. “Obviously
we got down by 11 and came back and I thought we did a good job,
but it was one of those games where I think we wore ourselves out
making our comeback.”

Commodores senior Hannah Tuomi had a double-double with 14
points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Jasmine Lister scored 14
points with a trio of 3-pointers. Vanderbilt, with two starting guards
out with injuries, plays at No. 14 Florida State on Sunday.

Vanderbilt trailed for much of the game but gradually chipped away
at FSU’s lead and went ahead 38-37 with 13:32 left in the second half
on Tiffany Clark’s inside basket.

The Bulldogs fought back from a 12-point deficit to tie it 28-all on
back-to-back 3s by Hill and Hannah Dawson 2 1/2 minutes after
halftime.

The teams traded baskets until the final minutes. Ward made all 6 of
her free throws in the game’s final minutes, helping seal the win for
Florida State (4-0).
The Commodores (2-1) were led by a pair of freshmen. Christina
Foggie scored 21 points and Jasmine Lister added 17 points.
“It has been tough. We’ve had a lot of injuries and haven’t had a lot of
full court practices and our kids were real tired,” Balcomb added. “At
this level, that was the most tired I’ve seen one of my teams. I thought
we fought and I was proud of our fight.”
The game was part of the inaugural Super Six Series.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE - No. 24/22 Vanderbilt held off a feisty Princeton team
to claim the 12th Annual Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament with a
74-68 win on Sunday at Memorial Gym.
Although the lead changed hands just one time in the game, the
Commodores (4-1) were unable to create much separation from
Princeton (3-2), which seemingly had an answer for every Vanderbilt
run.
“I like to give the other team credit when credit is due,” Vanderbilt
Head Coach Melanie Balcomb said. “I think they’re a very good team.
I think they’re extremely well coached. They beat USC for a reason.
We didn’t’ take them lightly and they were ready to play with a lot of
confidence. We came out real strong with a lot of energy on our home
court and then they made a run and they stepped it up. They played
that way for the rest of the game and maintained it.”
Vanderbilt was paced by Tournament MVP Hannah Tuomi, who
finished with 16 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. Jasmine
Lister also added 15 points and Tiffany Clarke had nine. Lister and
Clarke were part of the All-Tournament Team, which also included
Princeton’s Addie Micir, USC’s Christina Marinacci and Quinnipiac’s
Felicia Barron.
With the win, Vanderbilt improved to 24-0 all-time in its annual
Thanksgiving Tournament. In total, the Commodores are 41-1 all-time
in home tournament games.

Game Recap
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Vanderbilt entered its game at Bowling
Green looking for redemption following two straight losses to the
Falcons, but the Commodores will have to wait a little longer for that
redemption, as Bowling Green handed 23rd-ranked Vanderbilt a 79-68
loss on Wednesday at Anderson Arena.
The loss was Vanderbilt’s second of the season as the team fell to 4-2
overall and 0-2 on the road this season. Bowling Green improved to
7-1 and earned its 34th straight regular season win at home.
Vanderbilt trailed by 12 at the half, but was able to cut it to three,
51-48, with 14:31 to play. However, Bowling Green put the game out of
reach by going on a 16-2 run, which gave the Falcons a 67-50 lead —
their largest of the game with 8:36 to play.
The decisive run was triggered by the play of Lauren Prochaska, who
scored 14 of the team’s 16 points during the span and finished with
31 points. The point total was the same that Florida State’s Courtney
Ward had in Vanderbilt’s loss in Tallahassee.
Vanderbilt had four players score in double figures. Hannah Tuomi,
Jasmine Lister and Jence Rhoads each finished with 14 points and
Stephanie Holzer scored 10 -- all in the first half. The Commodores
were hampered by foul trouble and turnovers. Vanderbilt turned it
over 19 times compared to 11 by BGSU. Tuomi, Clarke and Holzer had
their playing time limited due to fouls. Tuomi and Clarke each finished
with four fouls and Holzer finished with three.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Senior forward Hannah Tuomi poured in a
career-high 29 points and Head Coach Melanie Balcomb picked up
her 200th win at Vanderbilt as the Commodores snapped a two-game
losing streak with an 81-68 win over Southern Illinois Tuesday at
Memorial Gym.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - For the third-straight game senior forward
Hannah Tuomi had a stellar performance for the Commodores, shooting 7-for-7 from the field while recording her second double-double
of the season as Vanderbilt topped UT Martin 72-60 Thursday at
Memorial Gym.

The Commodores improved to 5-0 at home this season and 5-3 overall,
but it did not come easily. Southern Illinois, 1-7, was able to cut an
18-point second-half lead to two before the Commodores went on
a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 11 with 6:51 to play. Southern Illinois
was unable to cut into Vanderbilt’s lead from that point on.

The Commodores improved to 6-3 overall and stayed perfect at home
with six wins, while UT Martin dropped to 4-5 overall with each of its
first nine games coming on the road. The win was the second in a row
for the Commodores who will begin final exams this weekend and will
not play again for 10 days.

Vanderbilt’s loss added to the road struggles for the SEC on Sunday.
Also losing on the road were Georgia, Florida, Kentucky and Ole Miss.

Tuomi scored 22 of her 29 points in the second half and stood at
the free-throw line with 13 seconds to play just two points shy of
Vanderbilt’s first 30-point game since Carla Thomas in 2006. She made
the first free throw before the second one rimmed out.

Vanderbilt went on a 13-0 run to open up a 24-9 lead with 8:30 remaining in the first half before UT Martin narrowed Vanderbilt’s lead to
27-24 with 3:38 to play in the half. Despite only shooting 2-of-15 from
beyond the arc in the opening half, the Commodores headed into the
locker room up 34-30 over the Skyhawks.

Trailing by one at the half, 29-28, Vanderbilt scored the first six points
of the second half to take a 34-29 lead with 17:50 to play. Vanderbilt’s
lead would not last long as Denver went on a 13-2 run to take a 42-36
lead with 12:20 to play.

“She was the one who played angry for 40 minutes because she
was upset losing in front of her crowd in Denver and it hurt her and
affected her the most,” Balcomb said. “She played one of the best
games I’ve ever seen her play.”

With Vanderbilt up 57-48 halfway through the second half, senior
Jence Rhoads sparked a 9-0 run to give the Commodores a 16-point
lead, the largest of the game, and the Commodores never looked
back.

The Commodores would chip away at Denver’s lead and tie the
game at 48 with 7:05 to play in the game. The momentum would sway
back to the Pioneers, who would go on a 13-3 run to take a 61-51
lead with 2:51 to play. The lead proved to be insurmountable for the
Commodores.

Tuesday’s win improved Vanderbilt to 10-1 all-time against SIU and
came in the midst of a five-day stretch in which the Commodores
play three games.

Tuomi grabbed 13 boards to go along with her 15 points to earn
her second double-double of the season and eighth of her career.
Against Samford on November 18, Tuomi scored 14 points and came
down with 10 rebounds to help lead Vanderbilt to a 70-60 victory. The
Commodores are now 6-2 when the Thornton, Colo., native records
a double-double.

Game Recap
DENVER, Colo. - Sunday was supposed to be a memorable homecoming for Colorado native Hannah Tuomi, but it ended up being anything
but memorable as Denver handed the Commodores their third straight
loss on the road with a 70-65 victory at Magness Arena.
The loss was the second in a row for the 23rd-ranked Commodores,
who fell to 4-3 this season. Denver improved to 4-4 overall.
The Commodores were paced by Tuomi and Jence Rhoads, who
each posted season highs in points. With a large contingent of family on hand to watch her first game at Vanderbilt in her home state,
Tuomi scored 17 points and collected six rebounds. Rhoads added a
team-high 19 points.

Vanderbilt was outscored in the paint 40-22.

Also scoring in double figures were Jasmine Lister, who scored 14
and Jence Rhoads, who added 11.

Game Recap
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Before Sunday, Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball
team had played three games away from Memorial Gymnasium and
had lost all three. The Commodores’ road blues ended on Sunday
at the A.J. Palumbo Center where Vanderblt handed Duquesne an
80-59 loss.
Playing in front of a large Vanderbilt contingent that was on hand
to watch three Commodores with roots in the Keystone State, the
‘Dores posted maybe their most impressive win of the season as they
won their third straight game to improve to 7-3 overall, while dealing
Duquesne just their second loss of the season (8-2) and snapping the
Duke’s seven-game winning streak.
Vanderbilt held an eight-point lead at the half, 42-34, but Duquesne
was able to trim VU’s lead to four, 42-38, with 19:06 to play. Vanderbilt
would extend its lead back to eight before Duquesne would cut the
lead to four again (59-55) with 9:40 to play.
Just as Duquesne was seemingly inching closer, Vanderbilt buried
the Dukes with a 21-4 run to take its largest lead of the game, 80-59,
with 33 seconds to play. Vanderbilt held Duquesne without a field goal
the last 7:49 of the game.
Four players scored in double figures for the Commodores, led by
Jasmine Lister, who poured in a career-high 21 points on 8-of-16
shooting. Fellow freshman Christina Foggie returned to the lineup
to score 17 points after missing the last three games due to a
concussion.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE - Western Kentucky took Vanderbilt to overtime last season, and early on Tuesday it appeared that the Lady Toppers would
again take the Commodores down to the wire in both teams’ final
game before Christmas break.
However, the Commodores had other plans for how they would begin
their holiday break.
After trailing by as many as seven points in the first half, the
Commodores (8-3) turned the tables on Western Kentucky (4-7)
midway through the first half and never looked back en route to a
74-48 win in front of the largest crowd of the season at Memorial Gym.
Vanderbilt trailed 16-9 with 11:28 to play in the first half before
outscoring WKU 58-19 over the next 24:37 of the game to take a commanding 67-35 lead with 6:51 to play.
The Commodores’ run was sparked by the play of senior Jence
Rhoads, who put the team on her back in the first half by scoring
the final seven points and nine of Vanderbilt’s last 11 of the half to
give Vanderbilt a 28-22 lead at intermission -- it’s largest to that point.
Rhoads played her best game of the season, finishing with a seasonhigh 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

Game Recap
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Vanderbilt ran its win streak to five on Wednesday
afternoon with a 72-51 victory over Delaware in the opening game of
the Hilton Garden Classic played at Virginia Tech’s Cassel Coliseum.
Four players scored in double figures for Vanderbilt, who improved to
9-3 overall. Delaware dropped to 6-4 on the year. The Commodores
were led by Angela Puleo who came off the bench to score a
season-high 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Puleo’s 15 points were a fraction of the 47 bench points scored by the
Commodores, which limited Delaware to just 13 bench points.
Also reaching double figures for Vanderbilt was senior Hannah Tuomi
who scored 11 points en route to becoming the 32nd player in school
history to reach 1,000 career points. Tuomi entered the game needing
six points to reach the milestone, which she hit on her first of two free
throws at the 8:16 mark of the first half.
Tuomi’s 11 points moved her into a tie for 30th in school history with
Caroline Williams (1,005 points).
Although Vanderbilt posted a 21-point win against Delaware, the
game did not come easily to the Commodores in the early going.
Vanderbilt got off to a slow start against the Blue Hens, hitting just two
of their first 12 shots. Because of Vanderbilt’s cold shooting, Delaware
was able to take a six-point lead before the Commodores would bury
Delaware with a 21-0 run.

Game Recap
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Vanderbilt appeared to be well on its way to
winning the championship of the Hilton Garden Classic on Thursday
night as Vanderbilt led Virginia Tech by as many as 17 points in the
first half and held a 15-point lead at intermission. However, the Hokies
rode a 31-8 run to open the second half en route to a 74-68 win at
Cassell Coliseum.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak and dropped Vanderiblt
to 9-4 overall as the Commodores concluded non-conference play
1-4 on the road. Virginia Tech improved to 9-4 and won their home
tournament for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons.
The Commodores were bidding for its first tournament championship
away from Nashville since 2003, but they could not withstand the hot
shooting by the Hokies in the second half, who made 55.9 percent
of their attempts after hitting just 28.1 percent of their shots in the
opening frame.
Vanderbilt made 37.3 percent of its shots, but went cold from beyond
the arc, hitting just 25.0 percent of its threes, including 15.4 percent
(2-of-13) in the second half.
Vanderbilt dug an early 8-2 hole in the game, but just like against the
Blue Hens when Vanderbilt used a 21-0 first-half run to take a commanding lead, Vanderbilt would go on voluminous 26-3 run against
Virginia Tech to take a 28-11 lead with 2:55 to play in the first half.

Game Recap
OXFORD, Miss. –For the second game in a row Vanderbilt saw its double-digit lead evaporate as Ole Miss rallied from 18 points down to top
the Commodores 72-67 on Sunday in the SEC opener for both teams.
The loss dropped Vanderbilt to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in the SEC, while
Ole Miss improved to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. Vanderbilt had
won four straight SEC lid-lifters before Sunday.
With shades of its loss at Virginia Tech — in which the Commodores
lost a 17-point lead —still lingering, Vanderbilt looked as if it was well
on its way to putting the loss to the Hokies in its rear-view mirror. The
Commodores built an 18-point lead in the first half against the Rebels
and took a 16-point lead into the locker room. But just like against
Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt was unable to slow down the second-half
charge by the Rebels.
Ole Miss began the second half on a 16-6 run to pull within six, 46-40,
with 16:15 to play, and for a short period, it looked as if that would be
as close as the Rebels would come. Vanderbilt would score the next
six points to extend its lead to 12, 52-40.
However, the Rebels would slowly chip away at Vanderbilt’s lead and
eventually take a 57-56 lead with 5:09 to play. The lead was Ole Miss’
first since holding a 6-4 advantage with 17:49 to play in the first half.
A basket by Jence Rhoads would give Vanderbilt the lead again at
58-57, but that would be the last time the Commodores would lead as
Ole Miss went on an 8-0 run to take a 65-58 lead, which would prove
to be too much to overcome.

Score by Periods
Mississippi State
Vanderbilt

2nd: 9-22 40.9%
2nd: 3-7 42.9%
2nd: 13-16 81.3%

Game: 34.5%
Game: 25.0%
Game: 69.0%

1st 2nd Total
16 28
44
31 34 65

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Vanderbilt had been here before. A dominating first half. A large halftime lead. But, unlike the past two games
where the Commodores had double digit leads slip away from them,
Vanderbilt was not about to let its second half blues continue on
Thursday against Mississippi State.
Instead, after opening up a 17-point first half lead the Commodores
slammed the door shut on Mississippi State and would not let the
Bulldogs crack it open again en route to a 65-44 win in the SEC home
opener for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt (10-5, 1-1 SEC) entered Thursday’s game after losing leads
of 17 and 18 points at Virginia Tech and Ole Miss, respectively, so a
large first-half lead seemed far from safe for the Commodores, especially against a Mississippi State (8-5, 0-1 SEC) team that had beaten
Vanderbilt three straight times.
However, Vanderbilt ensured its lead would stick this time by extending its cushion to as many as 25 points in the second half despite
shooting a season low 34.5 percent from the floor. The win moved
Vanderbilt to 8-0 at home and was the Commodores’ eighth straight
win in an SEC home opener.
Vanderbilt fell behind the Bulldogs 4-3 before opening up the game
with a 16-0 run to take a 19-4 lead with 10:30 to play. Mississippi
State never recovered thanks in part to a suffocating defensive
performance that limited the Bulldogs to just 27.6 percent shooting.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a 24-7 second-half run and 38 combined
points by Jence Rhoads and Hannah Tuomi, Vanderbilt was able to
hold off a late charge by Auburn en route to earning its 17th straight
win over the Tigers with a 67-59 victory on Sunday at Memorial Gym.
With the win, Vanderbilt (11-5, 2-1 SEC) improved to 9-0 at home, while
dealing the Tigers (9-7, 2-1 SEC) their first SEC loss of the season.
Tuomi finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting after
starting 6-of-6 from the floor. Rhoads scored 12 of her 16 points in the
second half and tied a career high with eight rebounds.
Vanderbilt had two first-half runs to stretch its lead to eight on two
occasions, but each time, the Tigers would answer. The same would
hold true in the second half when Vanderbilt’s seven-point lead at the
half was erased by an 11-4 Auburn run, which knotted the game at 33.
With the game tied, Vanderbilt would go on a 24-7 run to extend its
lead to 17 with 9:04 to play. However, Auburn would chip away at
Vanderbilt’s lead and pull within five with 1:02 to play. The Tigers’ Alli
Smalley had a chance to pull Auburn within two, but a three-pointer
was off the mark with 44 seconds to play. A free throw by Rhoads
and two more by Tuomi with 19 seconds to play would ice the game.
Vanderbilt shot 52.0 percent from the floor and outscored Auburn
40-26 in the paint. The field-goal percentage was its second best
of the season. Defensively, Vanderbilt held Auburn to 36.5 percent
shooting and 21.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Game Recap
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Looking to right the ship on the road in the
team’s final test before Saturday’s primetime matchup on ESPN at
Tennessee, Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team earned its first SEC
road win of the season with an 82-66 win at Alabama on Thursday at
Coleman Coliseum.
The win was Vanderbilt’s third in a row and snapped a two-game
losing streak on the road in which the Commodores (12-5, 3-1 SEC)
lost leads of 17 and 18 points in games at Virginia Tech and Ole
Miss. It was the 10th straight win for Vanderbilt against Alabama.
(11-6, 0-4 SEC).
Vanderbilt entered the game 1-5 on the road and was in need of
a road win heading into Knoxville on Saturday. After a back-andforth first half which featured five lead changes and four ties, the
Commodores exerted their strength in the second half by opening the
half on a 14-1 run to take a 53-35 lead with 13:58 to play.
The Commodores were able to capitalize on Alabama misfiring on
its first 13 shots of the half. Alabama did not hit a field goal until the
12:19 mark of the half.
Vanderbilt’s run proved to be too much to overcome and the
Commodores led by as many as 20 points in the second half, while
shooting their second highest field-goal percentage of the season at
56.9 percent. It was the second straight game Vanderbilt has topped
50 percent shooting after shooting 52.0 percent against Auburn on
Sunday.

Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball 2011-12

1st 2nd Total
17 39 56
29 39
68

Game Recap
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - No. 5/6 Tennessee landed its opening punch and
a wide-eyed Vanderbilt team never could recover as the Lady Vols
knocked off the Commodores 68-56 Saturday at Thompson-Boling
Arena.
With the lights of ESPN’s College GameDay shining on Knoxville,
Vanderbilt basketball suffered a forgettable day with the men’s and
women’s teams falling in front of the largest crowds either team has
played in front of this season.
In the nightcap of GameDay’s first-ever doubleheader, Vanderbilt
(12-6, 3-2 SEC) could not recover from a dreadful shooting start in
which the Commodores were put into a 21-5 hole in which Tennessee
(17-2, 5-0 SEC) scored 18 straight points after Vanderbilt started just
2-of-25 from the floor.
Despite going 9 minutes, 21 seconds between field goals and finishing
the first half with just 17 points after shooting 18.9 percent from the
floor, Vanderbilt remained very much in the game and trailed only by
12, 29-17. The 17 points in a half were the fewest by a Commodore
team since scoring just 15 second-half points at LSU last season.
The Commodores opened the second half by scoring the first four
points to pull within eight 29-21 with 19:08 to play. However Tennessee
would then go on a 21-7 run to take a 50-28 lead with 11:27 to play.
Vanderbilt chipped away at Tennessee’s lead and would get within
eight with 1:04 to play.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - An early-evening snow shower caused a gridlock
on Nashville’s roadways and limited the crowd size at Memorial Gym
on Thursday, but it could not slow down Vanderbilt, who kept its undefeated home record intact by knocking off No. 23/24 Arkansas 65-54
in a key early-season conference game Thursday at Memorial Gym.
The win was Vanderbilt’s first of the season against a ranked foe
and moved the Commodores (13-6, 4-2 SEC) into sole possession of
fourth place in the SEC. Arkansas dropped to 15-3 overall and 3-3
in the league.
Vanderbilt took a three-point lead into the locker room, but Arkansas
scored the first three points of the second half to tie the game for the
first time since the 16:56 mark of the first half.
Arkansas looked well on its way to continuing its string of close
contests with the Commodores after having battled to overtime in two
of the previous three contests. However, Arkansas was never able to
take the lead in the second half as Vanderbilt went on a 21-5 run from
that point forward to take a 16-point lead with 10:09 to play.
Arkansas would not recover.
Vanderbilt was paced by freshman Jasmine Lister, who scored 17
points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Her five makes were
a career high and tied a season high for the Commodores. Stephanie
Holzer added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while also matching a
career high with four blocks.

Game: 40.0%
Game: 41.2%
Game: 72.4%

Score by Periods
Vanderbilt
No. 19/19 Kentucky

2nd: 9-24 37.5%
2nd: 2-7 28.6%
2nd: 21-30 70.0%

Game: 37.5%
Game: 21.4%
Game: 68.8%

1st 2nd Total
22 46 68
37 41
78

Game Recap
LEXINGTON, Ky. - No. 19 Kentucky erased a 10-point Vanderbilt
lead by going on a 30-5 run to close the first half and never let
Vanderbilt get closer than seven en route to a 78-68 victory over the
Commodores Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.
The Commodores (13-7, 4-3 SEC) began the game 7of-13 from the
floor, but ended the first half and began the second half going 11
minutes and 26 seconds between field goals. The drought helped
Kentucky (15-4, 4-2 SEC) build a 47-24 advantage with 16:43 to play.
Vanderbilt whittled away at Kentucky’s lead and was able to pull
back within seven, 75-68, with 17 seconds to play, but by then the
ship had sailed.
Vanderbilt had four players score in double figures, led by Christina
Foggie, who scored all 15 of her points in the second half. Jence
Rhoads finished with 14 points and Stephanie Holzer added 13 points
after fouling out in 16 minutes. Rhoads and Holzer also paced the
team with six rebounds.
Holzer’s presence -- or lack there of -- because of foul trouble was
a large factor in the game. Much of Vanderbilt’s success early in the
game, which led to a 10-point lead, came with Holzer in the game. But
Kentucky was able to exploit the Commodores on the boards after
Holzer, who scored nine of Vanderbilt’s first 14 points, picked up her
second foul with 10:52 to play in the first half and remained on the
bench the duration of the frame.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Earlier this season, Vanderbilt saw an 18-point
advantage evaporate before its eyes at Ole Miss, but on Sunday with
the largest home crowd of the season looking on the Commodores
weren’t about to let another large first-half lead against the Rebels
slip out of their grasps. Instead, the Commodores kept their foot on
the gas in the second half and earned a 71-42 victory over Ole Miss
at Memorial Gym.
Vanderbilt (14-7, 5-3 SEC) led by 20 at the half after leading by as many
22 in the first half and never let Ole Miss (9-11, 2-6 SEC) get within 20
points again as the Commodores won their 14th in a row at home
over Ole Miss and improved to 11-0 at home for the first time since
the 2006-07 season.
The Commodores did it with defense and offense on Sunday.
Defensively, Vanderbilt held Ole Miss to 42 points on 25.4% shooting.
Both marks were the lowest by a Vanderbilt opponent this season.
In fact, the 42 points were the fewest by an SEC opponent since the
Commodores held Arkansas to 34 points on Jan. 28, 2007.
Offensively, the story was the play of Angela Puleo, who took advantage of just her second start of the season. The junior guard hit 6-of-9
three-pointers to finish with a season-high 20 points. Elan Brown also
had the second double-double of her career and season, finishing
with 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Most games against LSU are low scoring,
defensive battles and Thursday was no different for Vanderbilt, who
matched LSU’s defensive intensity and scored just enough points to
overcome a stingy LSU defense en route to a 55-50 victory over the
Lady Tigers on Thursday at Memorial Gym.
The win moved Vanderbilt (15-7 6-3 SEC) to 12-0 at home this season,
matching the best home start to a season in school history (34 seasons). The Commodores have now won six of the last eight games
against LSU (15-9, 5-5 SEC).
Despite scoring a season-low 55 points -- 23 of which came from
freshman center Stephanie Holzer -- the Commodores posted the
highest field-goal percentage of any LSU opponent this season
(53.3%). The Lady Tigers entered the game as the SEC’s top defensive
team, surrendering just 53.4 points per game, and they lived up to the
billing as LSU held Vanderbilt to a season-low 45 field goal attempts
and just three three-point attempts.
LSU’s defense had an answer for all the Commodores except Holzer,
who posted her third 20-point game of the season, but first since the
second game of the year. Seemingly every time, LSU would pull close,
it was Holzer, who came through with a bucket.
Vanderbilt held a half game lead for fifth place in the SEC standings
before the game began, but a Commodore win coupled with a loss by
Auburn vaulted Vanderbilt into fourth place by virtue of the tiebreaker
over Auburn.
LSU’s only lead was 11-9 with 11:03 to play in the first half, but the
Commodores were never able to pull away from a pesky LSU team.

Game Recap
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Vanderbilt has proven it can win at home time
and time again this season, but the Commodores’ struggles have
come on the road this season. Those struggles ended for at least
one day on Super Bowl Sunday as Vanderbilt gutted out a doubleovertime thriller, 103-97, over Florida at the O’Connell Center.
The win was Vanderbilt’s third in a row and just the team’s third this
season on the road as the Commodores improved to 16-7 overall and
7-3 in the SEC. Florida fell to 14-11 overall and 4-7 in the SEC.

Game Recap
ATHENS, Ga. – Vanderbilt withstood a furious Georgia run and scored
the game’s final nine points to earn a 69-59 win over the 24th-ranked
Lady Bulldogs on Thursday at Stegeman Coliseum. The win moved
Vanderbilt from fourth to second place in the SEC standings.
Vanderbilt (17-7, 8-3 SEC) led by five at the half and extended its lead
to as many as 16 points before Georgia (18-6, 8-3 SEC) went on a 17-2
run to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to one with 2:56 to play.

Five players scored in double figures for Vanderbilt, led by Tiffany
Clarke and Stephanie Holzer, who each had 23 points. Clarke also
added a career-high 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the
season. Hannah Tuomi also added 20 points.

The lead was trimmed to one when Georgia’s Meredith Mitchell hit
her first foul shot, but she missed her second which would have tied
the game at 60. Following her miss, Vanderbilt would seal the win by
scoring the game’s final nine points, six of which came courtesy of
Jasmine Lister. Lister finished with a career-high 22 points on 8-of-18
shooting.

The Gators chipped away at Vanderbilt’s 11-point halftime lead and
tied the score at 83 with 20 seconds to play. Vanderbilt’s Jence
Rhoads had an opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation,
but her jumper rolled off the rim.

Vanderbilt has now won two in a row on the road for the first time this
season and has won seven of the last eight meetings with Georgia.
The Commodores moved to second in the standings after Kentucky
lost at South Carolina.

The win came in VU’s first double overtime game since Feb. 3, 2005 at
Mississippi State — also a win.

Vanderbilt had a five-point lead at the half (32-27) and would extend it
to 16, 58-42, with 8:59 to play after going on an 11-1 run.

After a back-and-fourth first overtime, Vanderbilt took charge of the
game in the second overtime. The tide began the shift in VU’s favor
after Tuomi had an offensive rebound and put back after Clarke had
missed two free throws. The points were the first of the second overtime. On the next possession, Rhoads would give VU a four-point lead
with a jumper with 3:17 to play.

However, Georgia would not go down without a fight. Georgia’s
17-2 run began when Vanderbilt ran into foul trouble. Hannah Tuomi
and Tiffany Clarke had to go to the bench with 8:18 and 7:20 to play,
respectively, after earning their fourth fouls. Tuomi returned with
4:00 to play and fouled out at the 3:16 mark, finishing with 19 points
and 13 rebounds.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Pat Summitt promises she isn’t running
out of material to whip up her Tennessee Lady Vols even in her 37th
season.
“Oh, I can make stuff up,” she said.
She must have come up with a doozy at halftime Sunday because No.
4 Tennessee rallied from one of the Lady Vols’ worst first halves ever
and beat Vanderbilt 65-57 Sunday for their 15th straight win.
“We had a real good halftime,” Summitt said. “I like halftime more
than anything I think. ... I ripped everybody. You know, nobody was
really stepping up and taking ownership and leadership.”
The Lady Vols (24-2, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) played their
third game in seven days and were sloppy scoring only 15 points in
the first half, the third-worst scoring performance for 20 minutes in
Tennessee’s history.
They came back with a 50-point second half keyed in part by freshman Lauren Avant, who scored all her season-high 11 points in the
final 20 minutes. Shekinna Stricklen scored 14 points, and Glory
Johnson had 10.
Vanderbilt (17-8, 8-4) snapped a four-game winning streak that had
moved the Commodores from fifth in the SEC to second, just three
games back of Tennessee. The Commodores couldn’t hold on for
what would have been only their eighth victory all time against
Tennessee, blowing an 11-point lead with 13:52 left.

Game Recap
STARKVILLE, Miss. – It took almost 26 minutes, but Vanderbilt was
finally able to rid itself of a scrappy Mississippi State team by erasing
a seven-point deficit with a huge second-half run, which snapped a
two-game losing streak in Starkville as the Commodores earned a
74-62 win Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum.
Trailing by six at the time, Vanderbilt (18-8, 9-4 SEC) used a 17-0 run in
the second half to take command of the game with an 11-point lead,
55-44, with 8:27 to play. Mississippi State (10-15, 2-11 SEC) would get
no closer than seven points from that point on.
The win kept Vanderbilt in the thick of the SEC race for second
place in the SEC and trail second-place Georgia by one game with
three to play.
Vanderbilt was paced by Tiffany Clarke, who poured in 22 points and
collected a career-high 14 rebounds for her third double-double of
the season. Jasmine Lister added 16 points, 14 of which came in
the second half.
After shooting just 33.3% from the floor in the first half, Vanderbilt shot
50% in the second half, while holding Mississippi State to just 33.3%
shooting for the game.
With the win, Vanderbilt swept the season series with the Bulldogs. It
was Vanderbilt’s first win of the season when trailing at the half (1-5).
Vanderbilt trailed 31-29 at the half and Mississippi State scored the
first five points of the second half to take its largest lead of the game,
36-29, with 18:59 to play. The Bulldogs would maintain a sizeable
cushion until the 13:48 mark when VU would go on their run.

Score by Periods
Kentucky
Vanderbilt

2nd: 12-32 37.5%
2nd: 2-11 18.2%
2nd: 10-17 58.8%

Game: 40.4%
Game: 26.3%
Game: 68.6%

1st 2nd Total
32 48 80
35 36 71

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In a physical contest where neither team seemed
to get into a rhythm between the combined 59 fouls called and 73
free throws that were attempted on Sunday, Kentucky was able to
overcome a seven-point Vanderbilt lead and deal the Commodores an
80-71 loss in their annual Pink Out game at Memorial Gym.
With just two games remaining before the SEC Tournament in
Nashville (March 3-6), Sunday’s loss dropped the Commodores (18-9,
9-5 SEC) to fourth in the league standings behind the 19th-ranked
Wildcats (20-7, 9-5 SEC), who swept the season series.
Vanderbilt got a combined 45 points from Tiffany Clarke and Christina
Foggie, but in the end it was not enough to overcome the Wildcats’
pressing defense that turned Vanderbilt over 23 times in the absence
of senior guard Jence Rhoads, who missed the game with a sprained
right ankle.
Both teams dealt with foul trouble throughout the game. All five of
VU’s starters finished with four fouls and key reserve Stephanie
Holzer fouled out with 6:05 to play. UK was not spared either. The
Wildcats had two starters foul out and another finish with four fouls.
The Commodores held a three-point lead at the half that quickly
evaporated as Kentucky scored the first seven points of the second
half to take a 39-35 lead.
Vanderbilt regained the lead at 48-46 with 13:27 to play. Kentucky
would regain the lead again, 50-48, with 11:30 to play. However, the
lead would not change hands again.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the second year in a row Vanderbilt had its
Senior Night festivities spoiled as Florida topped the Commodores
74-69 Friday at Memorial Gym in a game that was postponed from
Thursday night due to inclement weather.
Vanderbilt (18-10, 9-6 SEC) held a one-point lead at the half, but did
not lead the final 19:52 of the ball game as Florida (16-13, 6-9 SEC)
extended its lead to as many as 11 points with 8:08 to play before
withstanding a late charge by the Commodores. Vanderbilt trimmed
the Gators’ lead to two, 62-60, with 5:33 to play with a 13-4 run, but
wouldn’t get any closer.
With the loss, it sets up a very important game for the Commodores
Sunday at South Carolina. A Vanderbilt win assures the Commodores
a bye in the SEC Tournament, while a loss could drop Vanderbilt to
fifth place.
The Commodores never led by more than one point on Friday and
ended up splitting the season series with the Gators, who ended
Vanderbilt’s seven-game winning streak against them.
The first meeting between the two this season went to double overtime and it appeared the second meeting might need additional time
as well. However, it was Florida’s free throw shooting at the end that
sealed the game.
Four Commodores scored in double figures, led by Foggie’s 15 points.
Tiffany Clarke finished with her third consecutive double-double, 13
points and 14 rebounds. Jence Rhoads also added 13 points, six
rebounds and four assists after missing last game due to a sprained
ankle.

Game Recap
COLUMBIA, S.C. – With a top four seed in the SEC Tournament on the
line, Vanderbilt staged its biggest comeback of the season by rallying
from 10 points down over the final 6:08 of the game to defeat South
Carolina 74-60 in overtime on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.
The win coupled with a Georgia loss and Kentucky win means the
Commodores will be the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament. A loss
would have meant Vanderbilt would have been the No. 5 seed in
the tournament.
The 10-point deficit overcome was Vanderbilt’s largest of the season
as the Commodores outscored South Carolina 36-12 over the final 6:08
of regulation and overtime.
Vanderbilt (19-10, 10-6 SEC) began its final run following a personal foul and technical foul on South Carolina (16-13, 8-8 SEC)
center Jewel May, which resulted in her fifth personal foul and sent
Stephanie Holzer to the line where she made 3-of-4.
The momentum shift seemed to be halted when Tiffany Clarke was
whistled for a personal foul and a technical with 5:25 to play, which
also resulted in her disqualification.
However, Clarke’s technical only added fuel to the fire as VU scored
11 of the game’s next 13 points to tie the score at 52 with 2:30 to play.
In overtime Rhoads scored seven points to lift the Commodores’ to
their second overtime win of the season, while the team made all
five of its shot attempts in the overtime compared to USC making
1-of-11 attempts.

Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball 2011-12

2nd: 13-24 54.2%
2nd: 0-7 0.0%
2nd: 10-14 71.4%

Game: 52.2%
Game: 26.7%
Game: 77.3%

1st 2nd Total
26 29 55
33 36 69

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt began its postseason with a bang on
Friday at Bridgestone Arena with a convincing 69-55 victory over 11thseeded Mississippi State in the SEC quarterfinals.
The win ended any chance of Mississippi State (13-17) making a
Cinderella run through the tournament after upsetting sixth-seeded
Auburn on Thursday, and advanced the third-seeded Commodores
(20-10) to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament for the fifth straight
year. Vanderbilt will play Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the second
semifinal game of the day.
Vanderbilt was led by Tiffany Clarke who scored all 23 of her points in
the second half after being limited to just five minutes in the first half
due to two early fouls. Clarke scored 14 of the team’s final 15 points
and also collected nine rebounds.
The Commodores led by seven at the half and took command of the
game with a 13-5 run early in the second half. Vanderbilt would extend
its lead to as many as 18 points with 5:55 to play.
Vanderbilt has now advanced to the semifinals in eight of nine seasons under Head Coach Melanie Balcomb and has won at least one
game in the SEC Tournament each of the last 12 seasons.
The Commodores have now won at least 20 games each of the last
12 seasons.

Game Recap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt’s chances of making it to the SEC
Tournament Championship were derailed by a forgettable first half on
Saturday at Bridgestone Arena as Kentucky held off the Commodores
69-56 to advance to Sunday’s tournament final.

Game Recap
CINCINNATI (AP) - Now, everybody’s watching Louisville put on a
show in the NCAA tournament.

Second-seeded Kentucky (24-7) built a 25-point lead in the first
half and took a 22-point lead into the locker room as third-seeded
Vanderbilt (20-11) scored just 11 first half points -- its lowest halftime
output since scoring 10 points in 2008 at LSU.

Freshman point guard Shoni Schimmel directed a young-but-poised
offense with 19 points Sunday, and the Cardinals marked their return
to the NCAA Tournament by beating Vanderbilt 81-62 in a first-round
game.

The Wildcats would extend their lead to as many as 27 points with
11:37 to play before Vanderbilt staged a furious rally with a 23-5 run to
pull within eight points with 3:07 to play in the second half. However,
the comeback proved to be too little too late, as Vanderbilt never
got any closer.

The Cardinals (21-12) failed to make the tournament last season after
losing to Connecticut in the 2009 title game, a one-year absence
that motivates a team starting Schimmel and two sophomores. The
failure to make last year’s tournament was especially galling because
Louisville hosted opening-round games at Freedom Hall.

The eight-point margin could have been less had the Commodores
converted from the foul line. After a free throw by Tiffany Clarke
cut Kentucky’s lead to 13, 56-43, with 4:40 to play, Vanderbilt missed
six straight free throw attempts. The final miss came with the
Commodores trialing by 10 (58-48) with 2:39 to play.

Coach Jeff Walz made his players attend the other teams’ practices
and see what they were missing. It was tough to watch Kentucky,
Michigan State, Bowling Green and Liberty practice on the Cardinals’
home court - Monique Reid called it embarrassing.

Vanderbilt’s hopes of claiming its seventh SEC Tournament title were
lost in the first 10 minutes of the first half as the Wildcats jumped
out to a 22-2 lead after the Commodores scored the game’s opening
basket. Vanderbilt scored its second basket of the game with 9:23 to
play after being held scoreless for 10 minutes, 12 seconds of play.

It was a lot better to be playing Sunday, and playing as well as they
have all season.
For the second year in a row, the Commodores (20-12) ended their
season on Xavier’s home court. Last year, Vanderbilt reached the
second round before losing to the Musketeers by a point. They
never led in this one.

The following former Commodores have been inducted into the Vanderbilt
Athletics Hall of Fame, which was established in 2008. Vanderbilt’s women’s
basketball program has had an inductee all three years.

Notable Accomplishments
• Jenni Benningfield was named a team captain for the 2003 USA Basketball
Pan American Games squad that won a silver medal.
• Chantelle Anderson and Ashley McElhiney were teammates on the 2001
World University Games team that won a gold medal. Also working with the
US team were Vanderbilt managers Kristen Carter and Chanell Sutton. Carter
and Sutton worked the training camps in Colorado Springs while Sutton traveled with the team to China.
• Zuzi Klimesova competed in the 2001 World University Games for her native
Czech Republic and won a bronze medal. Her complete statistics were not
available, but she did total 19 rebounds and nine points in a 91-71 win over
Lithuania for the bronze medal.
• Sheri Sam was selected to the 10-member senior College All-Star team
which played an exhibition game against the USA Basketball Women’s
National Team on April 6, 1996. Sam led the All-Stars with 18 points, second
only to USA’s Lisa Leslie with 28, and was the second-leading rebounder with
four.
• Karen Booker played on the 1991 US World University Games team and won
a gold medal. She averaged 5.3 points and 4.8 rebounds a game. She also
totaled 11 steals.
• Vanderbilt players have earned six gold, three bronze and one silver medal
in International competition.

Wendy Scholtens, a 6-4 center from Ft. Smith Arkansas, holds the Vanderbilt
record for most rebounds in a career. She holds a total of 15 Commodore
records, including all of the free throw categories. She was the SEC
Freshman of the Year and earned All-SEC honors three times, while earning
All-SEC Academic Honors twice. She was also selected SEC Player of the
Week eight times. She is the only woman at Vanderbilt to have her jersey
retired. She was inducted into the Tennessee Sports
Hall of Fame in 1999 and Vanderbilt Hall of Fame in 2009.

Heidi Gillingham • 1993
Heidi Gillingham, a 6-8 center from Floresville, Texas, holds six Vanderbilt
records, including an SEC record 131 blocks in a season. Gillingham is the
tallest player in Vanderbilt history. She was a three-time All-SEC first team
selection and was chosen SEC Player of the Week once. She was selected
to the 1993 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team and was named Sports
Illustrated National Player of the Week. She was also named Homecoming
Queen at Vanderbilt. She was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of
Fame in 2000 and Vanderbilt Hall of Fame in 2010.

Sheri Sam • 1996
Sheri Sam, a 6-1 forward from Duson, La., is the third Kodak All-American
from Vanderbilt. Sam ranks in five statistical categories and totaled double
digits in scoring in 77 games and in rebounding in 22 games. She was
selected SEC Player of the Week once and was a two-time All-SEC team
selection. She was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Sam was
a Naismith Finalist in 1996 and was named to the 1996 NCAA Tournament AllRegional Team.

Chantelle Anderson • 2002, 2003
Chantelle Anderson is Vanderbilt’s first two-time Kodak All-American earning the honor her junior and senior seasons. She was the first Commodore
to earn SEC Player of the Year honors (2002) and was also named ESPN The
Magazine Center of the Year. She was named MVP of the NCAA Midwest
Regional and was a Naismith Finalist in 2001, 2002 and 2003. As a sophomore,
the 6-6 center from Vancouver, Wash., set the NCAA record for field goal
percentage connecting on 292-404 from the field for a 72.3 percentage. She
is also the VU career leader in points with 2,604 points. She was inducted
into the Vanderbilt Hall of Fame in 2008.

Opponent
W/L
Tennessee State
W
Mississippi State
W
at Tennessee State
L
at Cumberland
W
Western Kentucky
W
Lipscomb
W
Murray State
L-ot
Motlow State
W
at Western Kentucky
L
at Austin Peay
L
Cumberland
W
at Lipscomb
W
at Mississippi State
L
at Motlow State
L
at University of the South
W
Bryan
W
Mississippi
L
at Volunteer State
W
Austin Peay
W-ot
University of the South
W
Volunteer State
W
at Bryan
W
Mississippi State Classic (Starkville, Miss.)
Alabama
L
Auburn
L

The Southeastern Conference’s most historic home for college basketball, Memorial Gymnasium serves as the home court for the Vanderbilt
Commodores. Dedicated in 1952 as a memorial to all Vanderbilt men
and women who served in World War II, the arena was built as a
combination gymnasium and concert hall by the late master architect
Edwin Keeble.

Vanderbilt has ranked among the top attendance draws in women’s
basketball over the years. Here is a look at where the Commodores
have ranked in home attendance dating back to the 1999-2000 season.

Fifty-nine years later, the unique style of Memorial Gymnasium — with
its benches situated on the baseline, a playing court that sits above
portions of the crowd and deafening acoustics — continues to make
the Commodores’ home a dreaded stop for opponents. “Memorial
Magic,” with its capacity crowds, overflowing student section and
lively pep band have assisted in numerous Commodore victories. In
the stands, fans across Middle Tennessee have helped Memorial
Gymnasium (capacity 14,316) rank among the NCAA’s Top 30 attendance leaders on numerous occassions.
On the floor, Vanderbilt has a 396-92 record at home, winning 81.1 percent of its games. Vanderbilt has never had a losing season at home
and under Head Coach Melanie Balcomb, Vanderbilt has won 83.0
percent (113-23) of its home games. The Commodores finished 12-3
at home last season and have not lost more than four games at home
since finishing 9-5 during the 1998-99 season.
Before the 2008-09 season, Vanderbilt’s locker rooms, the video room,
the training room and media room were renovated and are now stateof-the-art. The floor was also replaced before the 08-09 season. During
the 2009-10 season, the building received new championship banners.
In 2002, a $25 million renovation of Memorial Gymnasium was completed, highlighted by yet another one-of-a-kind feature. Connected to
the facility sits a new practice gym that includes a three cross-court
playing floor, coaching offices, a donor room and a Hall of Champions.
Other aspects of the renovation included upgrades of the seating
areas, private suites, a new lighting and sound system and a new court
design.
In all, Memorial Gym has been expanded three times. Constructed with
a seating capacity of 6,583, the University saw its first need to increase
seating in 1965 with the addition of two north-side balconies. Two
years later, a pair of balancing balconies were erected on the south
side of the gym and dubbed “The Balconies That Clyde Lee Built.”
Capacity has fluctuated throughout the history of the building. It
reached its highest number of 15,646 in 1969 when 4,000 seats were
added in the east and west ends. When chairback seats in the end
zones and suites on the north side were installed in the late 1990s
capacity lowered to 14,168. Prior to last season, university officials
removed portions of media press row on the south side in an effort to
expand the student section by nearly 150 seats.

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
Located in the popular Midtown district of Nashville, Vanderbilt is regarded
among the nation's finest universities. The private research university enrolled
6,970 undergraduate and 5,835 postgraduate students last year. Those students
arrive on campus from all 50 states and nearly 100 countries.
The university was founded 138 years ago when shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt provided an initial $1 million endowment.
Vanderbilt is one of 10 charter members of the Southeastern Conference. It is
the only private school among the SEC's 12-member universities.
Vanderbilt is ranked among the top universities in America. In its popular
annual "Best Colleges" edition, U.S. News & World Report most recently ranked
Vanderbilt No. 17 among all national universities. The magazine also placed
Vanderbilt No. 2 among schools located in the Southeast.
The campus is located 1.5 miles southwest of downtown Nashville on 330
pristine acres that was designated a national arboretum in 1988. Two focal areas
of campus closed to vehicles – the Peabody campus and the collection of
academic buildings surrounding Kirkland Hall that form the original campus –
are frequently listed among the most beautiful college environments in the South.
Though located within walking distance of downtown activities, the quality of
Vanderbilt life is reflected in much smaller, less public ways – running into friends
while walking on campus, researching papers or grabbing a late-night snack
with friends, choosing between a public policy lecture or athletic event, or having
dinner at a professor’s home.
Most Vanderbilt undergraduates live on campus during their time at the
university. Thirty-four residential halls dot the campus, ranging from the four towers off West End Avenue to The Ingram Commons, a state-of-the-art
complex for Vanderbilt's first-year students that has attracted national acclaim for
its design and unique living experience.
Vanderbilt offers numerous degrees in four undergraduate colleges: the
College of Arts and Science, Peabody College, School of Engineering and Blair
School of Music.